How to Use on target in a Sentence

on target

1 of 2 phrase
  • In total, the team in yellow took 20 shots, eight of which were on target.
    — Daniel Sperry, Kansas City Star, 4 July 2026
  • Panama had more possession after the goal but got just one shot on target in that time.
    — Anantaajith Raghuraman, New York Times, 4 July 2026
  • Only one of the attempts was on target — a header that was corralled in front of goal.
    — Nick Harris, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 30 June 2026
  • Ivory Coast has penetrated the box a bit more, but both sides have just one shot and zero on target.
    — Nick Harris, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 30 June 2026
  • South Korea did not have a shot on target for 86 minutes and could have equalised with their first effort on goal.
    — Anantaajith Raghuraman, New York Times, 5 July 2026
  • South Korea did not have a shot on target for 86 minutes and could have equalised with their first effort on goal.
    — Anantaajith Raghuraman, New York Times, 4 July 2026
  • Unai Simón didn't have to make a save while keeping his fourth consecutive clean sheet, since Austria failed to get a shot on target.
    — ABC News, 2 July 2026
  • The smallest country ever to advance out of World Cup group play, Cape Verde had just seven shots on target in the group stage.
    — Los Angeles Times, 3 July 2026
  • Colombia’s 79 shots ranked second in the tournament through the first two rounds and its 28 shots on target was tied for third, but only five of those shots found the back of the net.
    — Kevin Baxter, Los Angeles Times, 6 July 2026
  • Only one was on target, by attacker Solai Washington in the 80th minute.
    — Orlando Sentinel Staff, The Orlando Sentinel, 4 July 2026
  • Defensively, Colombia held Ghana to zero shots on target over 90 minutes plus stoppage time.
    — Daniel Sperry, Kansas City Star, 4 July 2026
  • Spain has yet to allow a goal at this World Cup, and its Basque backstop has only had to make four saves — none against Austria, which got none of its five shots on target.
    — ABC News, 2 July 2026
  • Currently, Brad Wasley said the company is on target to double the bearing business from 2025.
    — Sean Krofssik, Hartford Courant, 29 June 2026
  • Graham Potter’s side ended the game with more shots (16 to 10) and shots on target (eight to seven) but endured a role reversal from their handsome win over Tunisia.
    — Anantaajith Raghuraman, New York Times, 5 July 2026
  • Graham Potter’s side ended the game with more shots (16 to 10) and shots on target (eight to seven) but endured a role reversal from their handsome win over Tunisia.
    — Anantaajith Raghuraman, New York Times, 4 July 2026
  • Turkey, not wanting to go out without a fight, converted all of their three shots on target (from nine attempts) after failing to convert any of their previous 13 (from 62 attempts).
    — Anantaajith Raghuraman, New York Times, 4 July 2026
  • Turkey, not wanting to go out without a fight, converted all of their three shots on target (from nine attempts) after failing to convert any of their previous 13 (from 62 attempts).
    — Anantaajith Raghuraman, New York Times, 5 July 2026
  • When Ecuador could not earn shots on target and time was running out during the second half, Piero Hincapié ran toward forward Santi Giménez and covered his mouth while speaking.
    — Eduard Cauich, Los Angeles Times, 1 July 2026
  • While France had over 80% possession in the first half, neither team had a shot on target and the state of play gave the impression that things were playing into Paraguay’s hands heading into the next 45 minutes.
    — Patrick Sung Cuadrado, CNN Money, 4 July 2026
  • Japan's Hayabusa2 sample-return spacecraft is on target to make one of the closest ever flybys of a near-Earth asteroid in early July, as part of its extended mission campaign.
    — Andrew Jones, Space.com, 28 June 2026
  • Congratulations to Scotland on a first World Cup win in 36 years but a game with 44 fouls and four shots on target (from 24 attempts) was never going to rank too highly here.
    — Anantaajith Raghuraman, New York Times, 4 July 2026
  • Congratulations to Scotland on a first World Cup win in 36 years but a game with 44 fouls and four shots on target (from 24 attempts) was never going to rank too highly here.
    — Anantaajith Raghuraman, New York Times, 5 July 2026
  • The smallest country ever to advance out of World Cup group play, Cape Verde had just seven shots on target in the group stage, according to FIFA.
    — Los Angeles Times, 1 July 2026
  • Mohamed Ouahbi’s side scored with all three shots on target — Azzedine Ounahi twice and Saibari’s replacement Soufiane Rahimi late on — to end the Canadian dream.
    — Anantaajith Raghuraman, New York Times, 5 July 2026
  • Iran responded both times in a classic cat-and-mouse game that included 31 shots, 12 on target and a near-even possession split (51 to New Zealand and 49 to Iran).
    — Anantaajith Raghuraman, New York Times, 4 July 2026
  • Iran responded both times in a classic cat-and-mouse game that included 31 shots, 12 on target and a near-even possession split (51 to New Zealand and 49 to Iran).
    — Anantaajith Raghuraman, New York Times, 5 July 2026
  • Chelsea reached the 2021 FA Cup final, beating City in the semis, only to lose to Leicester (who won 1-0, scoring with their only shot on target) in the final.
    — Jack Pitt-Brooke, New York Times, 1 July 2026
  • Egypt centerback Rami Rabia found more than enough space to deliver a header on target, but Australia goalkeeper Patrick Beach was quick enough to thwart it above the crossbar for a crucial Aussie save.
    — Jim Barnes, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 3 July 2026
  • Portugal swept Uzbekistan aside with a 5-0 victory on matchday two, but a single shot on target against DR Congo and a blank against Colombia does point to an underperformance in their chance creation.
    — Mark Carey, New York Times, 2 July 2026

on-target

2 of 2 adjective
  • Can rip shots or thread the needle with on-target touch passes.
    — Kyle Woodlief, USA TODAY, 28 June 2023
  • Drones and buoy cameras recorded live views of the on-target splashdown.
    — Stephen Clark, ArsTechnica, 23 May 2026
  • Dart’s on-target throw to Wells was a short completion that sprung a nice gain.
    — Pat Leonard, New York Daily News, 18 Aug. 2025
  • The hubbub gives credence to the loudest — and most on-target?
    — Lisa Gutierrez, Kansas City Star, 20 June 2026
  • Australia got the win, even as it was outmatched in on-target shots by a 7-to-4 margin.
    — Steven Louis Goldstein, New York Times, 19 June 2026
  • Then, later in the quarter, Maye threw an on-target pass of 40 yards while on the run, though it was dropped.
    — Andrew Greif, NBC News, 27 Oct. 2024
  • Djokovic’s shots were not quite on-target early and, but for a brief interlude in the second set, his usual verve was not present.
    — Howard Fendrich, Chicago Tribune, 6 Sep. 2025
  • Chicago, meanwhile, took 17 shots, putting seven on-target.
    — The Kansas City Star, Kansas City Star, 26 Apr. 2026
  • With a new player like Goodson turning back to find a football, the pass needs to be perfectly on-target.
    — Nate Atkins, The Indianapolis Star, 11 Jan. 2024
  • They were gashed through the air by an opposing quarterback for whom on-target passes are a career rarity.
    — Dieter Kurtenbach, Mercury News, 29 Sep. 2025
  • His passes are always crisp and on-target, even if his vision and his highlight-reel passes are a bit less polished than some others in the class.
    — Sam Vecenie, New York Times, 2 Mar. 2026
  • Umpteen chances went begging long before Rovers managed to make their first and only on-target effort of the afternoon count.
    — Richard Sutcliffe, The Athletic, 22 Dec. 2024
  • The return maneuver culminated in an on-target vertical landing a few miles south of the launch pad.
    — Stephen Clark, Ars Technica, 26 Aug. 2023
  • After the launch, the booster settled onto the ship for a smoky but on-target touchdown less than 10 minutes after liftoff.
    — Eric Berger, ArsTechnica, 24 Apr. 2026
  • After the launch, the booster settled onto the ship for a smoky but on-target touchdown less than 10 minutes after liftoff.
    — Ashley Belanger, ArsTechnica, 23 Apr. 2026
  • On its debut flight, the new rocket delivered a commercial lunar lander to an on-target orbit.
    — Stephen Clark, Ars Technica, 23 July 2024
  • The throw from Carpenter to Haase wasn't close, but an on-target throw to the catcher would have gotten him at the plate easily.
    — Evan Petzold, Detroit Free Press, 2 July 2023
  • Moments later, the cameras captured an on-target splashdown followed by what appeared to be an explosion.
    — William Harwood, CBS News, 13 Oct. 2024
  • I’’ll say up front that the famous Cracker Barrel buttermilk biscuits were still on-target.
    — Bud Kennedy, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 9 Sep. 2025
  • By making the system-wide prompt publicly available, the public can help ascertain whether the instructions are on-target or off-target.
    — Lance Eliot, Forbes.com, 27 May 2026
  • Reigniting its engines for two braking burns, the booster settled onto the ship for a smoky but on-target touchdown less than 10 minutes after liftoff.
    — Stephen Clark, ArsTechnica, 19 Apr. 2026
  • Personalization to the person seeking mental health insights is quick and usually on-target.
    — Lance Eliot, Forbes.com, 19 Sep. 2025
  • Its first stage, solid rocket boosters, and upper stage performed as expected for the first phase of the flight, delivering eight small satellites into an on-target orbit.
    — Stephen Clark, Ars Technica, 2 Aug. 2024
  • His percentages of on-target and bad throws, as rated by Football Reference, are better than his career averages.
    — Andrew Greif, NBC news, 4 Jan. 2026
  • And part of it is paying it forward, appreciating how on-time, on-target passes have benefited him over these six seasons, with a goal of easing the scoring of teammates.
    — Ira Winderman, Sun Sentinel, 18 Mar. 2024
  • Jenny McCarthy-Wahlberg was on-target again by voting for chart-topping vocal group Pentatonix.
    — Gil Kaufman, Billboard, 11 May 2023
  • Once through the zone of peak heating, the Starship flew itself to an on-target splashdown in the Indian Ocean looking none the worse for its re-entry plunge from space.
    — William Harwood, CBS News, 22 May 2026
  • Nearing the ground, the BE-3 engine re-ignited, landing legs deployed and the rocket settled to an on-target touchdown on a concrete pad near the launch gantry.
    — William Harwood, CBS News, 20 Dec. 2025
  • The first stage used for the rideshare mission, making its fifth flight, flew itself back to an on-target landing at Vandenberg after boosting the upper stage and payloads out of the lower atmosphere.
    — William Harwood, CBS News, 4 Mar. 2024
  • At times Robot Kyle felt like an extremely enthusiastic and productive, but rarely on-target, personal intern.
    — Kyle Chayka, The New Yorker, 11 July 2023

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

Last Updated: