From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishbe meant to do somethingbe meant to do somethinga) SHOULD/OUGHT TOif you are meant to do something, you should do it, especially because someone has told you to or because you are responsible for it Come on, Ellen, you’re meant to be helping me. I thought the police were meant to protect people. b) PURPOSEto be intended to do something The diagram is meant to show the different stages of the process. → mean
Examples from the Corpus
be meant to do something• Designed by Robert Von Hagge, it was meant to be hard.• This is the way movie comedies were meant to be: one laugh rolling in just as the last one rolls out.• They are gifts fit for a king, and so they are meant to be.• Christmas time is meant to bring people together.• By the time it was finished, the workings had gone lower than the levels it was meant to drain.• The party was meant to have been a thank-you to the casino staff from the management.• The suit is meant to head off a legal attack against it by Apple which Quorum believes is in the works.• Like it was meant to look an accident.• The new program is meant to put young people in the retail and hospitality industries on a fast-track to management careers.• Jenny is convinced she was meant to stay with Zev. 