[C usually singular] the purpose of something is what it is intended to achieve

目的，意图:

The purpose of this meeting is to elect a new chairman.

这次会议的目的是选举一位新主席。

What is the purpose of your visit?

你来访的目的是什么？

The purpose of conducting a business is to make money.

做生意的目的是赚钱。

Troops were sent solely for the purpose of assisting refugees.

派遣军队的目的只是为了援助难民。

He came here with the purpose of carrying out the attack.

他到这里来的目的是为了发动攻击。

The protection of children is the primary purpose of this legislation.

保护儿童是这项立法的基本目的。

purposes, [pl.] the reasons that explain why something is needed or why it is considered in a particular way

〔情势等的〕需要; 用意:

Several of the items had religious purposes .

其中的几件器物是有宗教用途的。

It should be legitimate to use cannabis for medical purposes.

为了治疗需要使用大麻应该是合法的。

For tax purposes , you will be treated as a married couple.

报税时你们俩将被看作已婚夫妇。

The details are, for the present purposes , irrelevant.

目前情况下，这些细节是无关紧要的。

For the purposes of this book, America is taken to include the continent north of Mexico.

在这本书里，美洲是指墨西哥以北的大陆。

[C] a plan or aim

计划; 目的:

Nick had no particular purpose in mind when he started.

尼克一开始时头脑中并没有具体的目的。

Attending the race was not my purpose in coming to Indianapolis.

我到印第安纳波利斯来并不是为了参加比赛。

It would serve no useful purpose to reopen the investigation.

重新展开调查毫无用处。

on purpose, deliberately

故意（地），有意（地）:

You make it sound as if I did it on purpose!

你的话听起来好像是我有意那么做的！

FEELING 感情, [U] a feeling of determination to achieve things in life

〔达到生活中目标的〕决心，毅力:

It's so important to have a sense of purpose that it underlies human happiness.

生活目标很重要，有了生活目标人生才会幸福。

My football career was over and I had no purpose in life .

我的足球事业完了，我觉得生活失去了意义。

He possessed great strength of purpose .

他拥有坚强的意志。

for all practical purposes also to all intents and purposes, used to say that something is so close to the truth that it can be considered to be the truth

实际上; 大体上:

The war, to all intents and purposes, was over.

战争实际上已经结束了。

We have a Secretary of State for Scotland who is for all practical purposes a Scottish Prime Minister.

我们有一位苏格兰事务大臣，实际上就是苏格兰的首相。

serve its purpose, if something has served its purpose, it has done what you needed it to do

起到应有的作用:

We delete the data once it has served its purpose.

这些数据一旦用过我们就把它删除。

defeat the purpose, to fail to achieve the result you want

没有达到目的:

Anxiety will cause tension, which defeats the purpose of the exercise (=the activity or plan) .

忧虑会引起紧张情绪，一紧张就达不到目的了。

to no purpose, [formal] without any useful results

毫无效果:

She called after them, but to no purpose.

她在他们身后叫他们，可是一点用也没有。

to the purpose, [old-fashioned] useful or helpful

有用的; 有益的，有帮助的