to answer its purpose
Preserved but no longer current.
Meaning · English
To carry out what was expected or what was intended.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “to answer its purpose” mean?
To carry out what was expected or what was intended.
Is “to answer its purpose” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.