I.
noun
1 sb/sth that you try to destroy, hurt, steal, etc.
ADJECTIVE
▪ favourite/favorite , frequent , important , likely , natural , obvious , perfect , possible , potential , prime , suitable
▪
The President is a favourite/favorite ~ of comedians.
▪ attractive , tempting
▪
Trains are attractive ~s for terrorists.
▪ specific
▪ real
▪
The real ~ of his satire is religion.
▪ easy , sitting , soft , tempting , vulnerable
▪
The stationary trucks were sitting ~s for the enemy planes.
▪ legitimate
▪ intended
▪ fixed , stationary
▪ moving
▪ ground
▪ enemy , military , strategic
▪ civilian , non-military
▪ high-value
▪ terrorist
▪ takeover
▪
The company could become a takeover ~.
VERB + TARGET
▪ choose , identify , pick
▪ aim at , attack , engage , go for , shoot at
▪ find , locate
▪ hit , reach , strike
▪
The bomb reached its intended ~ ten seconds later.
▪ miss , overshoot
▪
The flare overshot its ~ and set fire to a hotel.
▪ destroy
▪
The missile is intended to destroy military ~s.
▪ track
▪
The radar beam can track a number of ~s simultaneously.
▪ present
▪
The damaged ship presented a tempting ~.
▪ make
▪
The casino made an easy ~ for thieves.
TARGET + NOUN
▪ site
▪
It should be possible to deliver the drug direct to the ~ site.
▪
The missile never reached its ~ site.
PREPOSITION
▪ off ~
▪
The missile veered way off ~ and landed in the sea.
▪ on ~
▪
Politically speaking, his jibes were right on ~.
▪ ~ for
▪
an easy ~ for thieves
2 object that you shoot at
VERB + TARGET
▪ put up , set up
▪
The archers were setting up their ~s.
▪ aim at , shoot at
▪ hit
▪ miss
▪ use sth as
▪
The boys used an old tree stump as a ~.
TARGET + NOUN
▪ area , range
▪ practice
PREPOSITION
▪ off ~
▪
Patton was just off ~ with his shot.
▪ on ~
▪
His first shot was bang on ~.
▪ wide of the ~
▪
The shot went wide of the ~.
3 result, person, etc. that you aim to reach
ADJECTIVE
▪ achievable , attainable ( esp. BrE ), low , modest , realistic
▪ ambitious , challenging ( esp. BrE ), demanding ( esp. BrE ), difficult , high , tough , unrealistic
▪
She has always set herself very high ~s.
▪ impossible
▪ new
▪ clear , specific
▪ chief , key , main , major , primary , prime , principal
▪ annual
▪ immediate , initial
▪ future , long-term , ultimate
▪ economic , financial , growth , inflation , performance , price , production , profit , recruitment , sales , spending
▪
Hospital performance ~s will not be met.
VERB + TARGET
▪ set
▪
Managers must set ~s that are realistic.
▪ aim for
▪
Students should be given a ~ to aim for.
▪ achieve , meet , reach
▪ stay on/within
▪
in a desperate attempt to stay within budget ~s
▪ exceed
▪
The company pays bonuses to workers who exceed production ~s.
▪ fall short of
TARGET + NOUN
▪ audience , demographic ( esp. AmE ), group , market , population
▪
The film's ~ demographic is women aged 18–49 years.
▪ date
▪
to meet a ~ date of May 2002
▪ figure ( esp. BrE ), level , price , range , weight
PREPOSITION
▪ above (a/the) ~
▪
Sales so far this year are 20% above ~.
▪ off ~
▪
These figures are way off ~.
▪ on ~
▪
We are still right on ~.
▪ within ~
▪
We are well within our ~ for trains arriving on time.
▪ over (a/the) ~
▪
Many pay agreements reached were over the original ~ of 4%.
▪ towards/toward (a/the) ~
▪
We are working towards/toward a ~ of twenty cars a week.
▪ ~ for
▪
The CEO has set new ~s for growth.
II.
verb
ADVERB
▪ deliberately , intentionally , particularly , specifically
▪
Children are deliberately ~ed.
▪ actively ( esp. BrE ), directly
▪
Police are actively ~ing known offenders.
▪
an exercise that directly ~s the back muscles
▪ carefully , precisely
▪
a carefully ~ed marketing campaign
▪ unfairly
▪
The authority was accused of unfairly ~ing minority groups.
▪ primarily
PREPOSITION
▪ at
▪
The products are ~ed at young people.
▪ for
▪
This hospital is ~ed for additional funding.
▪ on
▪
Tax cuts should be ~ed on the poor.
▪ towards/toward
▪
We ~ our services towards/toward specific groups of people.
Target is used with these nouns as the subject: ↑ bomb , ↑ campaign , ↑ missile , ↑ programme , ↑ vandal
Target is used with these nouns as the object: ↑ civilian , ↑ consumer , ↑ convoy , ↑ effort , ↑ immigrant , ↑ market , ↑ minority , ↑ precinct , ↑ victim , ↑ youth