all intents and purposes, for (to)

for all intents and purposes

In every practical or functional sense; almost completely. The phrase is often misstated as "for all intensive purposes." The app is finished, for all intents and purposes. We just need to iron out a few issues before it's released. For all intents and purposes, he's the leader of the organization. He just doesn't have the title.See also: all, and, intent, purpose

for all intents and purposes

Cliché seeming as if; looking as if. Tom stood there, looking, for all intents and purposes, as if he could strangle Sally, but, being the gentleman that he is, he just glowered. Mary: Is the car washed now? John: For all intents and purposes, yes, but I didn't dry it yet.See also: all, and, intent, purpose

all intents and purposes, for (to)

In practical terms; virtually. Since intent and purpose mean the same thing, the term is a tautology. According to Eric Partridge, it has been a cliché since the mid-nineteenth century. It originated in English law in the 1500s, when it was even more long-windedly phrased, to all intents, constructions and purposes.See also: all, and, intent