- intend
- intend, mean, design, propose, purpose signify to have in mind as an aim, end, or function.Intend implies that the mind is directed to some definite accomplishment or to the achievement of a definite end{
if one earnestly intends a conspiracy, one does not commence with a series of public readings— Kristol
}{intended twenty-four books, sketched fourteen, but left only iouv— Highet
}or is bent upon some person or thing (as an invention or a writing) serving a certain purpose or use, or fulfilling a certain destiny{a play, intended for great Theseus' nuptial day— Shak.
}{a strong suspicion that the new instrument with which Einstein has presented the mathematicians is being put to uses for which it was never intended— Inge
}{a man set aside and intended by nature to lead a blameless life— Anderson
}Intend often implies an aim to express a definite idea by a given word or phrase{just what the framers of the constitution intended by the phrase "to be twice put in jeopardy" is still a matter of some doubt
}{he caught the phrase as it dropped from his lips with a feeling that it said more than he intended—H. G. Wells
}Mean often carries a denotation close to that of intend{those organ tones of his were meant to fill cathedrals or the most exalted of tribunals— Cardozo
}but it does not convey so clear an implication of determination to effect one's end as does intend and, sometimes, it implies little more than volition or decision{he always means to work harden
}{a book that I mean to get when I reach Beverly— Justice Holmes
}{I don't mean to defend Charles' errors, but before I form my judgment of either of them I intend to make a trial of their hearts— Sheridan
}{he shouldn't have done it, of course; but he was thoughtless. And he meant to pay the money back— Deland
}Design (see also under PLAN n) usually stresses forethought and deliberation in arriving at an intention{the American people .... did not design to make their government dependent on the States— John Marshall
}{we wanted absolute surrender and we wanted it within a matter of hours, and the bomb of Nagasaki was designed to achieve just that, which it did— Cousins
}Often, the term also implies scheming or contriving, especially by underhand means, in an attempt to effect what is designed{your father and sister, in their civilities and invitations, were designing a match between the heir and the young lady— Austen
}{ah! Friend! to dazzle let the vain design; to raise the thought, and touch the heart be thine!— Pope
}Propose implies a declaration of one's intention or a setting it clearly before oneself or others. It therefore usually connotes clear definition or open avowal{what do you propose to do when your funds run out?
}{I propose to describe the circumstances under which Richelieu worked when he produced and realized the centralized nation of today— Belloc
}{to China, where she proposed to spend some time with her friends— Salisbury
}{what is reached in the end may be better or worse than what was proposed— James
}{1, for one, do not propose to adjust my ethics to the values of a bloodstained despotism—,4. E. Stevenson
}Purpose differs little from propose except in carrying a somewhat stronger implication of determination to effect or achieve one's intention{I purpose to write the history of England from the accession of King James the Second— Macaulay
}{a promise to send her picture postcards from the Cathedral cities which he purposed visiting— Hewlett
}and in occasionally connoting clearer definition in one's own mind{thy brother Esau, as touching thee, doth comfort himself, purposing to kill thee— Gen 27:42
}
New Dictionary of Synonyms. 2014.
