as in unlimited
not limited or specialized in application or purpose
there's nothing wrong with all-purpose flour for baking bread, but flour with more gluten is better
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Recent Examples of all-purpose
Use a balanced, all-purpose fertilizer, like 10-10-10.
—
Karen Brewer Grossman, Southern Living, 12 July 2025
This multi-model system can outperform an all-purpose model and deliver better outcomes with greater explainability.
—Ian Wilding, Forbes.com, 11 July 2025
She’s been found and retrieved by Thurman’s all-purpose bad guy, who goes by the supervillain handle Discord.
—David Fear, Rolling Stone, 2 July 2025
The almond flour gives the dessert's texture more structure than all-purpose flour and has a better flavor than those made with cake mix.
—Kelly Brant, Arkansas Online, 1 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for all-purpose
Karen Brewer Grossman, Southern Living, 12 July 2025
This multi-model system can outperform an all-purpose model and deliver better outcomes with greater explainability.
—Ian Wilding, Forbes.com, 11 July 2025
She’s been found and retrieved by Thurman’s all-purpose bad guy, who goes by the supervillain handle Discord.
—David Fear, Rolling Stone, 2 July 2025
The almond flour gives the dessert's texture more structure than all-purpose flour and has a better flavor than those made with cake mix.
—Kelly Brant, Arkansas Online, 1 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for all-purpose
Recent Examples of Synonyms for all-purpose
Adjective
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Get the latest runway coverage and unlimited digital access to Vogue for $3 $1/month for one year.—
Mark Holgate,
Vogue,
1 Aug. 2025
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Please consider supporting local journalism and getting unlimited digital access.—
Leah Olajide,
Freep.com,
1 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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Credit card debt in general has seen fresh highs in the years following the pandemic, as inflationary pressures and stagnant wage growth have caused many Americans to look to consumer debt to fill the gaps.—
Suzanne Blake,
MSNBC Newsweek,
25 July 2025
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That orbit in general is an ellipse, an oval shape.—
Phil Plait,
Scientific American,
25 July 2025
Adjective
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Frustrated with inherent inefficiencies in the architecture of ultralow-power microprocessors, the founders of startup Efficient Computer decided to reinvent the general-purpose processor from the ground up for energy efficiency.—
IEEE Spectrum,
IEEE Spectrum,
24 July 2025
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Rather than relying on general-purpose AI like GPT-4, which often struggles with domain-specific details, these models are trained on medical texts and structured to understand the nuances of clinical language.—
David Talby,
Forbes.com,
24 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“All-purpose.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/all-purpose. Accessed 4 Aug. 2025.
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