Meaning & use
targets
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“targets” is a form of “target”. See that entry for the full set of meanings.
Meanings
nounplural
The goals or results that a person or organization plans to reach.
Grammar: Plural of 'target'; use it when talking about more than one goal, often with 'meet', 'set' or 'hit'.
Patterns
- set targets
- meet targets
- sales targets
- targets for something
The company set ambitious sales targets for the new year.
We failed to meet our targets, so the manager called a meeting.
Her targets for the term include reading ten books.
nounplural
The objects or places that someone aims at when shooting or attacking.
Grammar: Plural of 'target'; often used with 'hit' or 'miss' in military or sports contexts.
Patterns
- hit the targets
- enemy targets
- practice targets
The soldiers practiced shooting at moving targets.
He hit all five targets in the archery competition.
The planes attacked military targets near the border.
verbtransitive
Aims something at a particular person, group, or place.
Grammar: Takes an object: the campaign targets young voters.
Patterns
- target someone/something
- be targeted at someone
The advertisement targets teenagers who love music.
The new law targets companies that avoid paying tax.
Their marketing is targeted at busy parents.
nounpluralbusiness
The people or groups that a product, service, or message is aimed at.
Grammar: Plural of 'target' in business and marketing; often used as 'targets' with 'reach' or 'identify'.
Patterns
- reach targets
- identify targets
- targets of a campaign
The charity identified new targets for its fundraising campaign.
Our ads reached the right targets in the local area.
The targets of the survey were small business owners.
Word forms
| singular | target |
|---|---|
| third person singular | targets |
| past tense | targeted |
| past participle | targeted |
| -ing form | targeting |
Common combinations
- set targets
- The team set clear targets for the project.
- meet targets
- We worked late to meet our monthly targets.
- sales targets
- The shop missed its sales targets last quarter.
- hit a target
- She hit the target with every arrow.
- target audience
- The target audience for the app is university students.
Synonyms and how they differ
- goals
- 'Goals' is more personal and long-term; 'targets' usually suggests specific, measurable results.
- objectives
- 'Objectives' sounds more formal and is common in planning documents; 'targets' is more everyday.
- aims
- 'Aims' can mean general intentions, while 'targets' are usually concrete numbers or results.
Word family
Commonly confused: targets or target?
targets vs target
'Target' is singular; use 'targets' only for more than one. The verb form 'targets' means 'aims at' (he targets young voters).
Practice
The company failed to ______ its sales targets this year.
Choose one answer.
'Meet a target' is the natural collocation meaning to reach the planned result. 'Make a target' is not used in this sense, and 'do' or 'take' do not fit the fixed phrase.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “targets”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.