How to Use a means to an end in a Sentence

a means to an end

noun phrase
  • This type of torture is a means to an end.
    — Amy Lawrence, New York Times, 26 Apr. 2026
  • Rather, it should be viewed as any other tool, a means to an end.
    — Theodore McDarrah, Forbes.com, 30 May 2025
  • There is a means to an end here; there is a reasoning for all of this.
    — Chris O'Falt, IndieWire, 3 Mar. 2026
  • Reparations are a means to an end; repair is the end.
    — Chadd Scott, Forbes.com, 13 Sep. 2025
  • Apartments, we’re told, were once a means to an end, to getting a larger home.
    — Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 11 Nov. 2023
  • Power for Mugabe was not a means to an end but the end itself.
    — Martin Meredith, Foreign Affairs, 13 Feb. 2018
  • In all the performing arts, people find their methods as a means to an end.
    — Natalie Oganesyan, Deadline, 3 Nov. 2025
  • In all the performing arts, people find their methods as a means to an end.
    — Carly Thomas, HollywoodReporter, 3 Sep. 2019
  • Profits are critical, to be sure; but profits are a means to an end.
    — Alan Murray, Fortune, 7 July 2023
  • The data should be a means to an end, though, not a source of validation in its own right.
    — Samantha Kleinberg, STAT, 8 Jan. 2024
  • Trump does not see tariffs as a means to an end, that is, as a negotiating tool.
    — David Faris, Newsweek, 4 Nov. 2024
  • Rather, our investors see ESG best practices as a means to an end.
    — Cole Shephard, Fortune, 22 Aug. 2023
  • Like in every domain, AI is a means to an end, not an end in itself.
    — Cornelia C. Walther, Forbes, 16 Mar. 2025
  • In terms of Kantian ethics, journalists should not use anyone as a means to an end.
    — Encyclopedia Britannica, 7 May 2026
  • Drafting was not a means to an end, artistic or architectural.
    — Jonathon Keats, Forbes, 20 Apr. 2023
  • But, instead of just a means to an end kind of job, Thompson has chosen a path with a purpose.
    — Rebecca Angel Baer, Southern Living, 5 Aug. 2024
  • In some of these stories, the genre elements are a means to an end rather than the principal focus.
    — Dexter Palmer, Washington Post, 11 Apr. 2023
  • For Roy, meanwhile, dating actually seemed to be a means to an end.
    — Sam Kriss, Harpers Magazine, 24 Feb. 2026
  • Food is a means to an end, particularly for less affluent men.
    — Ashley Milne-Tyte, NPR, 19 Feb. 2025
  • Does the leader only want to focus on profit, and are workers and customers simply a means to an end?
    — Wayne Elsey, Forbes, 22 Jan. 2025
  • Moreover, view financial accounting as a means to an end as opposed to an end in itself.
    — Shivaram Rajgopal, Forbes, 5 Sep. 2024
  • Big moves, blindsides, backstabs — these are exciting when a means to an end, but strange when an end unto themselves.
    — Dalton Ross, EW.com, 6 Sep. 2024
  • And even then, most were merely a means to an end—practical but undeniably ugly.
    — Nina Molina, WSJ, 26 Aug. 2023
  • Instead, the mass firings don’t seem to be a means to an end on the way to overhauling American health.
    — Nicholas Florko, The Atlantic, 2 Apr. 2025
  • Through these conversations, Claire realized that money is more than a means to an end.
    — Sharon Olson, Forbes.com, 3 Apr. 2025
  • Going on this date with Margeret though showed me a different way, that dating doesn’t have to chip away at us or be a means to an end.
    — Phoebe McIlwraith, refinery29.com, 11 Apr. 2024
  • Remember, your current position might be a means to an end, so stay focused on your long-term objectives.
    — Archie L. Jones, Forbes, 30 Sep. 2024
  • Trade, particularly among furs, was a means to an end for an explorer seeking funding.
    — Emilie Le Beau Lucchesi, Discover Magazine, 12 Nov. 2024
  • But, as fans of the book know and viewers of the film eventually learn, Nina's behavior is all a means to an end.
    — Lauren Huff, Entertainment Weekly, 20 Dec. 2025
  • The pay for contract labor was the highest in the industry, and many nurses saw the job as a means to an end, hoping to pay off their student debt.
    — Alexis Kayser, MSNBC Newsweek, 20 Nov. 2025

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'a means to an end.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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