aim.
The pointing of a weapon, as a gun, a dart, or an arrow, or object, in the line of direction with the object intended to be struck; the line of fire; the direction of anything, such as a spear, a blow, a discourse, a remark, towards a particular point or object, with a view to strike or affect it.
Meaning & usage
The pointing of a weapon, as a gun, a dart, or an arrow, or object, in the line of direction with the object intended to be struck; the line of fire; the direction of anything, such as a spear, a blow, a discourse, a remark, towards a particular point or object, with a view to strike or affect it.
to take aim
Take time with the aim of your gun.
The level of accuracy of a weapon.
A rifle has more precise aim than a shotgun.
The point intended to be hit, or object intended to be attained or affected.
Intention or goal.
My number one aim in life is to make money to make my parents, siblings, and kids happy.
The ability of someone to aim straight; one’s faculty for being able to hit a physical target.
The police officer has excellent aim, always hitting the bullseye in shooting practice.
He has a bad aim, so he decided to join archery classes.
Conjecture; guess.
Where this word comes from
The verb is from Middle English amen, aimen, eimen (“to guess at, to estimate, to aim”), borrowed from Old French esmer, aesmer, asmer, from Latin ad- plus aestimare (“to estimate”), the compound perhaps being originally formed in Medieval Latin (adaestimare), perhaps in Old French. The noun is from Middle English ame, from Old French aesme, esme.
To point or direct a missile, or a weapon which propels as missile, towards an object or spot with the intent of hitting it
He aimed at the target, but the arrow flew straight over it.
To direct the intention or purpose; to attempt the accomplishment of a purpose; to try to gain; to endeavor;—followed by at, or by an infinitive
to aim at a pass
to aim to do well in life
To direct or point (e.g. a weapon), at a particular object; to direct, as a missile, an act, or a proceeding, at, to, or against an object
to aim an arrow at the deer
She aimed a punch at her ex-boyfriend.
To direct (something verbal) towards a certain person, thing, or group
to aim a satirical comment at Communists in general
To guess or conjecture.
Where this word comes from
The verb is from Middle English amen, aimen, eimen (“to guess at, to estimate, to aim”), borrowed from Old French esmer, aesmer, asmer, from Latin ad- plus aestimare (“to estimate”), the compound perhaps being originally formed in Medieval Latin (adaestimare), perhaps in Old French. The noun is from Middle English ame, from Old French aesme, esme.
Initialism of America Online AIM; AOL Instant Messenger.
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.