GOAL


Meaning of GOAL in English

goal S2 W1 AC /ɡəʊl $ ɡoʊl/ BrE AmE noun [countable]

[ Date: 1500-1600 ; Origin: gol 'limit, boundary' (1300-1400) ]

1 . something that you hope to achieve in the future SYN aim :

Your goal as a parent is to help your child become an independent adult.

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In everyday British English, people often talk about what someone is aiming to do rather than talk about someone’s goal :

▪ His goal is to set up his own business. ➔ He’s aiming to set up his own business.

2 . the area between two posts where the ball must go in order to score in games such as football or ↑ hockey

be in goal/keep goal British English (=be the goalkeeper)

3 . the action of making the ball go into a goal, or the score gained by doing this:

I scored the first goal.

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COLLOCATIONS (for Meaning 1)

■ adjectives

▪ sb’s main/primary goal

My main goal was to get the team to the finals.

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The primary goal of the 1917 Revolution was to seize and redistribute the wealth of the Russian empire.

▪ sb’s ultimate goal (=what they eventually and most importantly hope to achieve)

The ultimate goal is a freer, more democratic society.

▪ an immediate goal (=that you need to achieve very soon)

Our immediate goal is to cut costs.

▪ a long-term goal (=that you hope to achieve after a long time)

The organization’s long-term goal is to gain a strong position in the European market.

▪ a short-term goal (=that you hope to achieve after a short time)

Companies should not focus only on the short-term goal of profitability.

▪ sb’s personal goal

They had to sacrifice personal goals for their family life.

▪ a common goal (=an aim shared by more than one person or organization)

Iran and Turkey shared common goals in their handling of the refugee crisis.

▪ a realistic/achievable goal

Students are encouraged to set themselves realistic goals for academic improvement.

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We pushed for what we thought were achievable goals

▪ an ambitious goal (=an aim that will be difficult to achieve)

The agreement set ambitious goals to cut greenhouse gas emissions worldwide.

▪ a modest goal (=an aim that is not too difficult to achieve)

Don’t try to lose a lot of weight quickly; set yourself a more modest goal.

■ verbs

▪ have a goal

She had one goal in life: to accumulate a huge fortune.

▪ work towards a goal

We are all working towards similar goals.

▪ pursue a goal

Have we gone too far in pursuing the goal of national security?

▪ achieve/attain/reach your goal

She has worked hard to achieve her goal of a job in the medical profession.

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They’re hoping to reach their goal of raising £10,000 for charity.

▪ set (yourself/somebody) a goal (=decide what you or someone else should try to achieve)

It helps if you set yourself clear goals.

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COLLOCATIONS (for Meaning 3)

■ verbs

▪ score a goal

Robbie Keane scored a goal just before halftime.

▪ get a goal

It was great that he got that goal so late in the game.

▪ head a goal (=score a goal by hitting the ball with your head)

Peter Crouch headed England’s equalizing goal.

▪ make a goal (=help another player to score a goal)

Rooney made the goal with a superb pass to Saha.

▪ concede a goal (=let the other team score a goal)

Arsenal conceded a goal in the final minute of extra time.

▪ let in a goal (=let the other team score a goal)

Chelsea let in a goal in the 63rd minute.

▪ disallow a goal (=not allow a goal to be counted because a rule has been broken)

The goal was disallowed for offside.

■ adjectives

▪ the winning goal

Berbatov scored the winning goal from just outside the box.

▪ an own goal (=when a player accidentally puts the ball into his/her own net)

Dixon scored an unfortunate own goal against West Ham.

▪ a last-minute goal

A last-minute goal condemned Fulham to a 0–1 home defeat.

▪ an equalizing goal British English (=a goal that gives you the same number of points as your opponent)

A loud cheer went up as he scored the equalizing goal.

Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English.      Longman - Словарь современного английского языка.