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
At the center of this movement is OpenAI, led by Sam Altman, whose generative AI models represent a general-purpose capability—comparable to the steam engine or electric motor—that can amplify nearly every form of knowledge work.
—
Phil Kafarakis, Forbes.com, 27 Jan. 2026
The Sacramento County Department of Transportation widened the six- to eight-lane section of Watt to accommodate unprotected bike lanes while maintaining three wide general-purpose lanes in each direction plus varying turning lanes and a 45 mph speed limit.
—Ariane Lange, Sacbee.com, 20 Jan. 2026
Contrast this with the European Union, where the EU AI Act is now in full effect, imposing strict guardrails on ‘high-risk’ systems and general-purpose models.
—Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 19 Jan. 2026
According to Skild, by learning from video demonstrations supplemented with minimal robot data, the model fundamentally overcomes the robotics data bottleneck, enabling scalable, general-purpose task learning.
—Jijo Malayil, Interesting Engineering, 16 Jan. 2026
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Phil Kafarakis, Forbes.com, 27 Jan. 2026
The Sacramento County Department of Transportation widened the six- to eight-lane section of Watt to accommodate unprotected bike lanes while maintaining three wide general-purpose lanes in each direction plus varying turning lanes and a 45 mph speed limit.
—Ariane Lange, Sacbee.com, 20 Jan. 2026
Contrast this with the European Union, where the EU AI Act is now in full effect, imposing strict guardrails on ‘high-risk’ systems and general-purpose models.
—Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 19 Jan. 2026
According to Skild, by learning from video demonstrations supplemented with minimal robot data, the model fundamentally overcomes the robotics data bottleneck, enabling scalable, general-purpose task learning.
—Jijo Malayil, Interesting Engineering, 16 Jan. 2026
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 29 Jan. 2026.
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