intent

«intent» in Mova's school dictionary: or plans to do; purpose, as in «with intent to steal» — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 1 sentence of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

noun (intent, uncountable); adjective (intent on)

meaning for a pupil

1) (noun, formal) What someone means or plans to do; purpose, as in «with intent to steal». tree →

2) (adjective) «intent on» — very determined to do something. tree →

3) (adjective) Paying very close attention, as in «an intent look». tree →

sense in the lessons

In law and news: «with intent» means on purpose. In stories: «She was intent on winning» shows determination; «his eyes were intent on the screen» shows focus. Phrases: intent on, to all intents and purposes (= in almost every way), with good intent.

examples

• She was intent on finishing the puzzle. tree →
• He was charged with breaking in with intent to steal. tree →
• The cat watched the bird with an intent look. tree →
• My intent was to help, not to annoy you. tree →
• To all intents and purposes, the game was over. tree →
• The boys were intent on building the den. tree →
• He was standing there by night like one intent on doing evil. tree →

note

Similar noun: intention (more common). Do not mix «intent» with «intense». Phrase trap: «to all intents and purposes», not «to all intensive purposes».

In the corpora

• "An honest mistake" means a mistake made without bad intent.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «intent» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.