From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishgoalgoal /ɡəʊl $ ɡoʊl/ ●●● S2 W1 AWL noun [countable] 1 PURPOSEsomething that you hope to achieve in the future SYN aim Your goal as a parent is to help your child become an independent adult.► see thesaurus at aim, purposeRegisterIn everyday British English, people often talk about what someone is aiming to do rather than talk about someone’s goal: His goal is to set up his own business. → He’s aiming to set up his own business.2 DSthe area between two posts where the ball must go in order to score in games such as football or hockeybe in goal/keep goal British English (=be the goalkeeper)3 DSthe action of making the ball go into a goal, or the score gained by doing this I scored the first goal.COLLOCATIONS – Meaning 1: something that you hope to achieve in the futureadjectivessomebody’s main/primary goalMy main goal was to get the team to the finals.The primary goal of the 1917 Revolution was to seize and redistribute the wealth of the Russian empire.somebody’s ultimate goal (=what they eventually and most importantly hope to achieve)The ultimate goal is a freer, more democratic society.an immediate goal (=that you need to achieve very soon)Our immediate goal is to cut costs.a long-term goal (=that you hope to achieve after a long time)The organization’s long-term goal is to gain a strong position in the European market.a short-term goal (=that you hope to achieve after a short time)Companies should not focus only on the short-term goal of profitability.somebody’s personal goalThey had to sacrifice personal goals for their family life.a common goal (=an aim shared by more than one person or organization)Iran and Turkey shared common goals in their handling of the refugee crisis.a realistic/achievable goalStudents are encouraged to set themselves realistic goals for academic improvement.We pushed for what we thought were achievable goalsan ambitious goal (=an aim that will be difficult to achieve)The agreement set ambitious goals to cut greenhouse gas emissions worldwide.a modest goal (=an aim that is not too difficult to achieve)Don’t try to lose a lot of weight quickly; set yourself a more modest goal.verbshave a goalShe had one goal in life: to accumulate a huge fortune.work towards a goalWe are all working towards similar goals. pursue a goalHave we gone too far in pursuing the goal of national security?achieve/attain/reach your goalShe has worked hard to achieve her goal of a job in the medical profession.They’re hoping to reach their goal of raising £10,000 for charity.set (yourself/somebody) a goal (=decide what you or someone else should try to achieve)It helps if you set yourself clear goals. COLLOCATIONS – Meaning 3: the action of making the ball go into a goal, or the score gained by doing thisverbsscore a goalRobbie Keane scored a goal just before halftime.get a goalIt was great that he got that goal so late in the game.head a goal (=score a goal by hitting the ball with your head)Peter Crouch headed England’s equalizing goal.make a goal (=help another player to score a goal)Rooney made the goal with a superb pass to Saha.concede a goal (=let the other team score a goal)Arsenal conceded a goal in the final minute of extra time.let in a goal (=let the other team score a goal)Chelsea let in a goal in the 63rd minute.disallow a goal (=not allow a goal to be counted because a rule has been broken)The goal was disallowed for offside.adjectivesthe winning goalBerbatov scored the winning goal from just outside the box.an own goal (=when a player accidentally puts the ball into his/her own net)Dixon scored an unfortunate own goal against West Ham.a last-minute goalA last-minute goal condemned Fulham to a 0–1 home defeat.an equalizing goal British English (=a goal that gives you the same number of points as your opponent)A loud cheer went up as he scored the equalizing goal.
Examples from the Corpus
goal• Goal! Right in the last minute, England have scored.• Benedettini clawed the ball out with his right hand, but a linesman raised his flag to indicate a goal.• In other words, her values and goals were very different.• Nice compatible goals between the two of them.• School children have definite goals towards which they can work.• Venturini has scored the first goal in each of the two US victories in the Olympics.• The first goal of the study was to define what power strategies were actually used by these managers.• Florin Raducioiu scored four goals, putting Romania in the lead.• Her goal is to find a company willing to donate money for research.• The Red Cross has reached its goal of raising $1.6 million for relief.• So the Task Force sped on toward its goal, every ship now tense and ready for battle.• England's only goal came midway through the second half.• We need to concentrate on what our goals and objectives are now, while we have the energy.• Our goal is to become the biggest-selling brand of coffee in the country.• We won, but only because of an 88th minute own goal from the other side.• I took a job as a teacher with the long-term goal of becoming a principal of a school.• The goal of the partnership is to improve his company's profit margin.• By 1975, they had achieved their goal of providing free education for every child.• Spurs got two goals in the last five minutes of the game.scored ... goal• In the sixth period the coach finally put him in, and he scored the winning goal.• Within the first minute he scored a goal, and another a quarter of an hour later.• My first memories of a Leeds match were standing on a soapbox with my dad, when we scored a goal.• Whitley scored eight goals in a row, three of them in 61 seconds, to win 9-6.• It was Beckham's marker, however, who scored the winning goal.• First name on to the team sheet was young Joey Beauchamp whose scored 3 goals in 3 games.From Longman Business Dictionarygoalgoal /gəʊlgoʊl/ noun [countable] something that you hope to achieve in the futureSYNAIMThe Sensor razor is helping Gillette achieve its goal of getting new customers.Our long-term goal is universal private education.His goal is to open banks in 35 states by the end of the decade.Origin goal (1500-1600) gol “limit, boundary” ((1300-1400)) 