target

1 a reference point to shoot at; "his arrow hit the mark" [syn: mark]

2 a person who is the aim of an attack (especially a victim of ridicule or exploitation) by some hostile person or influence; "he fell prey to muggers"; "everyone was fair game"; "the target of a manhunt" [syn: prey, quarry, fair game]

3 the location of the target that is to be hit [syn: target area]

4 sports equipment consisting of an object set up for a marksman or archer to aim at [syn: butt]

5 the goal intended to be attained (and which is believed to be attainable); "the sole object of her trip was to see her children" [syn: aim, object, objective] v : intend (something) to move towards a certain goal; "He aimed his fists towards his opponent's face"; "criticism directed at her superior"; "direct your anger towards others, not towards yourself" [syn: aim, place, direct, point]

English

Etymology

Diminutive of targe.

Pronunciation

IPA: /tɑ:gɪt/

Noun

1. A butt or mark to shoot at, as for practice, or to test the accuracy of a firearm, or the force of a projectile.

   Take careful aim at the target.

2. A goal or objective.

   They have a target to finish the project by November.

3. A kind of small shield or buckler, used as a defensive weapon in war.
   • 1598, William Shakespeare, Henry IV, Part I, Act II, Scene IV, line 200,

     These four came all afront, and mainly thrust at me. I made me no more ado but took all their seven points in my target, thus.

4. armor obsolete A shield resembling the Roman scutum. In modern usage, a smaller variety of shield is usually implied by this term.
   • 1786, Francis Grose, A Treatise on Ancient Armour and Weapons, page 22,

     The target or buckler was carried by the heavy armed foot, it answered to the scutum of the Romans; its form was sometimes that of a rectangular parallelogram, but more commonly had it's bottom rounded off; it was generally convex, being curved in it's breadth.

5. The pattern or arrangement of a series of hits made by a marksman on a butt or mark.

   He made a good target.

6. The sliding crosspiece, or vane, on a leveling staff.
7. A conspicuous disk attached to a switch lever to show its position, or for use as a signal.
8. the number of runs that the side batting last needs to score in the final innings in order to win
9. The tenor of a metaphor.

Related terms

• source

Translations

• ttbc Spanish: blanco

Verb

1. To aim something (especially a weapon) at a target.

Translations

See also

Target may refer to:

• Bullseye (target)
• Target Corporation, a U.S. mass merchandise retailer
• Target (Australia), an Australian mass merchandise store retailer
• Gui-Jean-Baptiste Target (1733–1807), French lawyer
• Target, Allier, a community of the Allier department in France
• Target (1952 film), starring Tim Holt
• Target (1985 film), starring Gene Hackman
• Target (1995 film), directed by Sandip Ray
• Target (2004 film), starring Stephen Baldwin
• Target (magazine), an Indian children's magazine (1980–1995)
• Target (TV series), a 1970s detective series
• Target (New Zealand TV series), a consumer affairs program
• Target, a spoof version of Taggart
• "Target" (song), a 2006 single from Embrace
• Target (word puzzle)
• TARGET (Trans-European Automated Real-time Gross settlement Express Transfer system), an interbank payment system
• TARGET, an anti-female genital mutilation organization, founded with the influence of Rüdiger Nehberg

Target may also refer to:

• TARGET 3001!, the registered trademark of a computer-aided design software for printed circuit board
• Target: 2006, an eleven issue story arc from the Transformers Marvel UK comic book series
• Target Books, a British publishing imprint
• Target market, the market segment to which a particular product is marketed
• Biological target, an enzyme or other protein (for pharmacologically active compounds)
• SCSI target, the storage-device side endpoint of a SCSI session
• The Target, a 2002 Hoobastank EP
• "The Target" (The Wire episode), the pilot episode of the HBO series
• Target and the Targeteers, a trio of superhero characters
• In computing, a directory into which other files are moved, or the new name of a file that is renamed
• A web page to which another web page is redirected

See also

• Targeting

aim, alpha decay, atom-chipping, atom-smashing, atomic disintegration, atomic reaction, atomization, beta decay, bombardment, breeding, bullet, butt, by-end, by-purpose, byword, byword of reproach, chain reaction, cleavage, derision, destination, disintegration series, dissociation, dupe, duty, end, end in view, exchange reaction, fair game, fall guy, figure of fun, final cause, fission, fission reaction, fool, function, game, gamma decay, gazingstock, goal, goat, ionization, jest, jestingstock, joke, laughingstock, mark, mockery, monkey, neutron reaction, nonreversible reaction, nuclear fission, nucleization, object, object in mind, objective, photodisintegration, prey, proton gun, proton reaction, purpose, pursuit, quarry, quintain, reason for being, reversible reaction, scapegoat, sitting duck, splitting the atom, stimulation, stock, teleology, thermonuclear reaction, toy, ultimate aim, use, victim, whipping boy