meant to (be/do something)
idiom
1
: intended to (do or be something)
I was never meant to teach.
They knew as soon as they met that they were meant to be together.
I thought we could be friends, but I guess it just wasn't meant to be.
2
British
: supposed to (be or do something)
The buses are meant to arrive every 15 minutes.
Brighton is meant to be very beautiful at this time of year.
Examples of meant to (be/do something) in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Not meant to be taken literally, the twist after a shocking act violence reads like the materialization of Ali’s desire to be a bolder, more stereotypically masculine iteration of himself.
—
Carlos Aguilar, Variety, 25 Jan. 2025
What's next in the cease-fire deal Twenty-six other hostages are meant to be released in the cease-fire's six-week first phase, along with hundreds more Palestinian prisoners.
—Isabel Debre, Sam Mednick, TIME, 25 Jan. 2025
All these precautions are not meant to scare people, Tetro and Gerba said, but to inform.
—Melanie Radzicki McManus, CNN, 25 Jan. 2025
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is meant to evoke images captured by a movie camera from the early 1980s; a small strip of celluloid, exposed to light and shadow, is simulated with obsessive granularity and rendered by a powerful computer.
—Yussef Cole, New York Times, 24 Jan. 2025
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Carlos Aguilar, Variety, 25 Jan. 2025
What's next in the cease-fire deal Twenty-six other hostages are meant to be released in the cease-fire's six-week first phase, along with hundreds more Palestinian prisoners.
—Isabel Debre, Sam Mednick, TIME, 25 Jan. 2025
All these precautions are not meant to scare people, Tetro and Gerba said, but to inform.
—Melanie Radzicki McManus, CNN, 25 Jan. 2025
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is meant to evoke images captured by a movie camera from the early 1980s; a small strip of celluloid, exposed to light and shadow, is simulated with obsessive granularity and rendered by a powerful computer.
—Yussef Cole, New York Times, 24 Jan. 2025
See all Example Sentences for meant to (be/do something)
Dictionary Entries Near meant to (be/do something)
Cite this Entry
“Meant to (be/do something).” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/meant%20to%20%28be%2Fdo%20something%29. Accessed 30 Jan. 2025.
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