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goal - 6 dictionary results

goal

  [gohl]
Use goal in a Sentence
–noun
1. the result or achievement toward which effort is directed; aim; end.
2. the terminal point in a race.
3. a pole, line, or other marker by which such a point is indicated.
4. an area, basket, cage, or other object or structure toward or into which players of various games attempt to throw, carry, kick, hit, or drive a ball, puck, etc., to score a point or points.
5. the act of throwing, carrying, kicking, driving, etc., a ball or puck into such an area or object.
6. the score made by this act.
Origin:
1275–1325; ME gol boundary, limit; cf. OE gǣlan to hinder, impede

Related forms:
goalless, adjective

Synonyms:
1. target; purpose, object, objective, intent, intention. 2. finish.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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goal   (gōl)   
n.  
  1. The purpose toward which an endeavor is directed; an objective. See Synonyms at intention.
  2. Sports
    1. The finish line of a race.
    2. A specified structure or zone into or over which players endeavor to advance a ball or puck.
    3. The score awarded for such an act.
    4. A noun or noun phrase referring to the place to which something moves.
    5. See patient.
  3. Linguistics
    1. A noun or noun phrase referring to the place to which something moves.
    2. See patient.

[Middle English gol, boundary, possibly from Old English *gāl, barrier.]
pa·tient   (pā'shənt)   
adj.  
  1. Bearing or enduring pain, difficulty, provocation, or annoyance with calmness.
  2. Marked by or exhibiting calm endurance of pain, difficulty, provocation, or annoyance.
  3. Tolerant; understanding: an unfailingly patient leader and guide.
  4. Persevering; constant: With patient industry, she revived the failing business and made it thrive.
  5. Capable of calmly awaiting an outcome or result; not hasty or impulsive.
  6. Capable of bearing or enduring pain, difficulty, provocation, or annoyance: "My uncle Toby was a man patient of injuries" (Laurence Sterne).
n.  
  1. One who receives medical attention, care, or treatment.
  2. Linguistics A noun or noun phrase identifying one that is acted upon or undergoes an action. Also called goal.
  3. Archaic One who suffers.

[Middle English pacient, from Old French, from Latin patiēns, patient-, present participle of patī, to endure; see pē(i)- in Indo-European roots.]
pa'tient·ly adv.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Goal

Goal\, n. [F. gaule pole, Prov. F. waule, of German origin; cf. Fries. walu staff, stick, rod, Goth. walus, Icel. v["o]lr a round stick; prob. akin to E. wale.]

1. The mark set to bound a race, and to or around which the constestants run, or from which they start to return to it again; the place at which a race or a journey is to end.

Part curb their fiery steeds, or shun the goal With rapid wheels. --Milton.

2. The final purpose or aim; the end to which a design tends, or which a person aims to reach or attain.

Each individual seeks a several goal. --Pope.

3. A base, station, or bound used in various games; in football, a line between two posts across which the ball must pass in order to score; also, the act of kicking the ball over the line between the goal posts.

Goal keeper, the player charged with the defense of the goal.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : goal
Spanish: gol,
German: das Tor,
Japanese: ゴール
More Translations »

goal 
1531, "end point of a race," perhaps from O.E. *gal "obstacle, barrier," a word implied by gælan "to hinder." The word appears once before this, in a poem from c. 1315. Football sense is attested from 1548.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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goal programming
In logic programming, a predicate applied to its arguments which the system attempts to prove by matching it against the clauses of the program. A goal may fail or it may succeed in one or more ways.
(1997-07-14)

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © 1993-2007 Denis Howe
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