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# 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 →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/intent/#m1)

2) (adjective) «intent on» — very determined to do something. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/intent/#m2)

3) (adjective) Paying very close attention, as in «an intent look». [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/intent/#m3)

### 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 →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/intent/#x1)
- He was charged with breaking in with intent to steal. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/intent/#x2)
- The cat watched the bird with an intent look. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/intent/#x3)
- My intent was to help, not to annoy you. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/intent/#x4)
- To all intents and purposes, the game was over. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/intent/#x5)
- The boys were intent on building the den. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/intent/#x6)
- He was standing there by night like one intent on doing evil. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/intent/#x7)

### 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.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/euphemisms/35-mistakes-and-stupidity/8/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «intent» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/I/intent/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.