meant to (be/do something)
idiom
1
: intended to (do or be something)
I was never meant to teach.
They knew as soon as they met that they were meant to be together.
I thought we could be friends, but I guess it just wasn't meant to be.
2
British
: supposed to (be or do something)
The buses are meant to arrive every 15 minutes.
Brighton is meant to be very beautiful at this time of year.
Examples of meant to (be/do something) in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
After the visit, Martin told Farnham how much the gesture meant to him.
—
Laura Kwerel, NPR, 3 June 2024
Graham Cooper and Adrian Ballinger, California mountaineers whose acclimatization for Mt. Everest included sleeping at home with their heads in hypoxic tents meant to mimic the agonies of extreme altitude, reached the world’s highest summit on Wednesday.
—Jack Dolan, Los Angeles Times, 1 June 2024
The delay is meant to give U.S. officials time to form a strategy on shipping advanced chips abroad, and figure out who will manage and secure centers where AI models are trained, people told Bloomberg.
—Britney Nguyen, Quartz, 31 May 2024
Over the last year, the Biden administration has implemented a series of new trade policies meant to curb China’s access to certain technologies, most notably semiconductors.
—Amanda Gerut, Fortune, 31 May 2024
See all Example Sentences for meant to (be/do something) 
Laura Kwerel, NPR, 3 June 2024
Graham Cooper and Adrian Ballinger, California mountaineers whose acclimatization for Mt. Everest included sleeping at home with their heads in hypoxic tents meant to mimic the agonies of extreme altitude, reached the world’s highest summit on Wednesday.
—Jack Dolan, Los Angeles Times, 1 June 2024
The delay is meant to give U.S. officials time to form a strategy on shipping advanced chips abroad, and figure out who will manage and secure centers where AI models are trained, people told Bloomberg.
—Britney Nguyen, Quartz, 31 May 2024
Over the last year, the Biden administration has implemented a series of new trade policies meant to curb China’s access to certain technologies, most notably semiconductors.
—Amanda Gerut, Fortune, 31 May 2024
See all Example Sentences for meant to (be/do something)
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'meant to (be/do something).' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near meant to (be/do something)
Cite this Entry
“Meant to (be/do something).” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/meant%20to%20%28be%2Fdo%20something%29. Accessed 6 Jun. 2024.
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