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
For years, the Achilles’ heel of general-purpose humanoid robots has been their inability to move quickly.
—
Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 5 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
By giving the internal system such flexibility, MicroFactory’s robot is ultimately designed as a general-purpose system ready to meet many industries’ everyday needs.
—Nia Bowers, USA Today, 24 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for general-purpose
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Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 5 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
By giving the internal system such flexibility, MicroFactory’s robot is ultimately designed as a general-purpose system ready to meet many industries’ everyday needs.
—Nia Bowers, USA Today, 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 10 Dec. 2025.
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