Definition of "target"

target

/ˈtɑɹɡɪt/

noun
plural targets
1. A butt or mark to shoot at, as for practice, or to test the accuracy of a firearm, or the force of a projectile.
2. A goal or objective.
  Quotations
  Private-equity nabobs bristle at being dubbed mere financiers. […] Much of their pleading is public-relations bluster. Clever financial ploys are what have made billionaires of the industry’s veterans. “Operational improvement” in a portfolio company has often meant little more than promising colossal bonuses to sitting chief executives if they meet ambitious growth targets. That model is still prevalent today.
  2013 June 22, “Engineers of a different kind”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8841, page 70
3. An object of criticism or ridicule.
4. A person, place, or thing that is frequently attacked, criticized, or ridiculed.
5. A kind of shield:
  1. A kind of small shield or buckler, used as a defensive weapon in war.
    Quotations
    These four came all afront, and mainly thrust at me. I made me no more ado but took all their seven points in my target, thus.
    c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Fourth, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, [Act II, scene iv], line 200
  2. (obsolete) A shield resembling the Roman scutum, larger than the modern buckler.
    Quotations
    The target or buckler was carried by the heavy armed foot, it answered to the scutum of the Romans; its form was sometimes that of a rectangular parallelogram, but more commonly had its bottom rounded off; it was generally convex, being curved in its breadth.
    1786, Francis Grose, A Treatise on Ancient Armour and Weapons, page 22
  3. (heraldry) A bearing representing a buckler.
    Quotations
    The fourth field is also party per pale, and for the dutchy of Genevois, contains chequered Or and azure: The sinister for the dutchy of Montserat, a target, gules. The point Or is a black eagle of the county of Maurienne.
    1762, Anton Friedrich Büsching, A New System of Geography: In which is Given, a General Account of the Situation and Limits, the Manners, History, and Constitution, of the Several Kingdoms and States of the Known World, page 12
6. (sports) The pattern or arrangement of a series of hits made by a marksman on a butt or mark.
7. (surveying) The sliding crosspiece, or vane, on a leveling staff.
8. (rail transport) A conspicuous disk attached to a switch lever to show its position, or for use as a signal.
9. (cricket) the number of runs that the side batting last needs to score in the final innings in order to win
10. (linguistics) The tenor of a metaphor.
11. (translation studies) The translated version of a document, or the language into which translation occurs.
12. A person (or group of people) that a person or organization is trying to employ or to have as a customer, audience etc.
  Quotations
  Gary Cahill, a target for Arsenal and Tottenham before the transfer window closed, put England ahead early on and Rooney was on target twice before the interval as the early hostility of the Bulgarian supporters was swiftly subdued.
  2011 September 2, Phil McNulty, “Bulgaria 0-3 England”, in BBC
13. (UK, dated) A thin cut; a slice; specifically, of lamb, a piece consisting of the neck and breast joints.
14. (Scotland, obsolete) A tassel or pendant.
15. (Scotland, obsolete) A shred; a tatter.
verb
third-person singular simple present targets, present participle targeting or targetting, simple past and past participle targeted or targetted
1. (transitive) To aim something, especially a weapon, at (a target).
2. (transitive, figuratively) To aim for as an audience or demographic.
3. (transitive, computing) To produce code suitable for.