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
The updates also underscore NVIDIA’s ambition to define the standard platform for building general-purpose robots, especially humanoids, which demand precise physics and complex reasoning to function in human environments.
—
Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 29 Sep. 2025
Commissioned by the Army Ordinance Corps at the midpoint of World War II, ENIAC was the world’s first electronic general-purpose computer.
—Angus Fletcher, Big Think, 29 Sep. 2025
For now, and possibly forever, advances in AI are more likely to be iterative, like other general-purpose technologies.
—Michael C. Horowitz, Foreign Affairs, 26 Sep. 2025
An October 2024 survey from Fierce Healthcare and the physician social network Sermo found that 76 percent of physicians use general-purpose LLMs to aid clinical decision-making.
—Alexis Kayser, MSNBC Newsweek, 24 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for general-purpose
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Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 29 Sep. 2025
Commissioned by the Army Ordinance Corps at the midpoint of World War II, ENIAC was the world’s first electronic general-purpose computer.
—Angus Fletcher, Big Think, 29 Sep. 2025
For now, and possibly forever, advances in AI are more likely to be iterative, like other general-purpose technologies.
—Michael C. Horowitz, Foreign Affairs, 26 Sep. 2025
An October 2024 survey from Fierce Healthcare and the physician social network Sermo found that 76 percent of physicians use general-purpose LLMs to aid clinical decision-making.
—Alexis Kayser, MSNBC Newsweek, 24 Sep. 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 8 Oct. 2025.
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