a necessary action carried out just to achieve a goal
something that is done just for the sake of producing an adequate result
Her working as a public defender was not due to her passion for the job but solely as a means to an end.
Marilyn chose to marry John in order to escape poverty. To her, he was a means to an end.
She chose to pursue graduate study as a means to her end of making a better life for herself.
Agatha is very manipulative and only sees people as a means to an end.
Despite everything that happened between Peter and Joy, he still refuses to accept the fact that their relationship was just a means to an end for her.
There is no origin for this idiom
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definition
Common phrase that has a specific meaning.