general-purpose
adjective
gen·er·al-pur·pose
ˈjen-rəl-ˈpər-pəs 
ˈje-nə-
: suitable to be used for two or more basic purposes
Examples of general-purpose in a Sentence
a general-purpose glue for routine household repairs
Recent Examples on the Web
With this partnership, the robotics company aims to strengthen its lead in the global race to commercialize general-purpose humanoid robots at scale.
—
Sujita Sinha, Interesting Engineering, 12 Dec. 2025
In each, general-purpose technology innovation followed a pattern: infrastructure materialized rapidly as companies piled in to capture expected returns.
—Ravi Kumar S, MSNBC Newsweek, 2 Dec. 2025
TPUs are application-specific chips, or ASICs, and often more power efficient compared to GPUs, which are general-purpose chips designed for a broader range of compute workloads.
—Pia Singh, CNBC, 25 Nov. 2025
Feed it once a month with a diluted general-purpose product, following the directions on the label.
—Andy Wilcox, Better Homes & Gardens, 24 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for general-purpose
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Sujita Sinha, Interesting Engineering, 12 Dec. 2025
In each, general-purpose technology innovation followed a pattern: infrastructure materialized rapidly as companies piled in to capture expected returns.
—Ravi Kumar S, MSNBC Newsweek, 2 Dec. 2025
TPUs are application-specific chips, or ASICs, and often more power efficient compared to GPUs, which are general-purpose chips designed for a broader range of compute workloads.
—Pia Singh, CNBC, 25 Nov. 2025
Feed it once a month with a diluted general-purpose product, following the directions on the label.
—Andy Wilcox, Better Homes & Gardens, 24 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for general-purpose
Cite this Entry
“General-purpose.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/general-purpose. Accessed 14 Dec. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share