Definition of "aim"

aim¹

/eɪm/

noun
plural aims
1. The pointing of a weapon, as a gun, a dart, or an arrow, or object, in the line of direction with the object intended to be struck; the line of fire; the direction of anything, such as a spear, a blow, a discourse, a remark, towards a particular point or object, with a view to strike or affect it.
2. The point intended to be hit, or object intended to be attained or affected.
3. Intention or goal
  Quotations
  There is no doubt at all that this is the future of machinery, and just as trees grow while the country gentleman is asleep, so while Humanity will be amusing itself, or enjoying cultivated leisure which, and not labour, is the aim of man - or making beautiful things, or reading beautiful things, or simply contemplating the world with admiration and delight, machinery will be doing all the necessary and unpleasant work.
  1891, Oscar Wilde, The Soul of Man Under Socialism
  As a matter of fact the Enlightment culture was based on a philosophy inspired to an ethical laicism whose aim was to create a better society based on principles such as solidarity, equality of rights and duties, and full freedom.
  2012, Francesca Valensise, From Building Fabric to City Form: Reconstruction in Calabria at end of Eighteenth Century‎, Gangemi Editore spa, page 8
4. The ability of someone to aim straight; one's faculty for being able to hit a physical target
5. (obsolete) Conjecture; guess.
  Quotations
  What you would work me to, I have some aim.
  1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Iulius Cæsar”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, [Act I, scene ii]
verb
third-person singular simple present aims, present participle aiming, simple past and past participle aimed
1. (intransitive) To point or direct a missile, or a weapon which propels as missile, towards an object or spot with the intent of hitting it
2. (intransitive) To direct the intention or purpose; to attempt the accomplishment of a purpose; to try to gain; to endeavor;—followed by at, or by an infinitive
  Quotations
  The stories did not seem to me to touch life. They were plainly intended to have a bracing moral effect, and perhaps had this result for the people at whom they were aimed.
  1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter I, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd.
  Risk is everywhere. […] For each one there is a frighteningly precise measurement of just how likely it is to jump from the shadows and get you. “The Norm Chronicles” […] aims to help data-phobes find their way through this blizzard of risks.
  2013 June 22, “Snakes and ladders”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8841, page 76
3. (transitive) To direct or point (e.g. a weapon), at a particular object; to direct, as a missile, an act, or a proceeding, at, to, or against an object
4. (transitive) To direct (something verbal) towards a certain person, thing, or group
5. (intransitive, obsolete) To guess or conjecture.
  Quotations
  But, good my lord, do it so cunningly / That my discovery be not aimed at;
  c. 1589–1593, William Shakespeare, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, act 3, scene 1, lines 44–45

aim²

/eɪm/

noun
1. Initialism of America Online. AIM; AOL Instant Messenger.