a means to an end

Submitted by Asagi on 2023-02-18

Meanings of "a means to an end"

English

something that you do because it will help you to achieve something else, e.g.:

I didn't really like the job but it paid the bills. It was just a means to an end.

Explained by AsagiAsagi on Sat, 18/02/2023 - 23:17
Explained by AsagiAsagi
Japanese

何かをするのは、それが他の何かを達成するのに役立つからだ。

Explained by Mira_PearlMira_Pearl on Sun, 19/05/2024 - 22:08
Explained by Mira_PearlMira_Pearl
Polish

środek (prowadzący) do celu

Explained by AsagiAsagi on Sat, 18/02/2023 - 23:18
Explained by AsagiAsagi

"a means to an end" in lyrics

Helluva Boss (OST) - Just Look My Way (2023 Version)

What you are, so I'll grant you this mercy this bind- on our souls needs to end

I will try to make amends, for making you means to an end
So, look my way, please, look my way

PARANOiD DJ - Just Look My Way

[Stolas breathes shakily]

I will try to make amends, for making you means to an end
So, look my way, please, look my way

Chase Atlantic - You Too

Take 'em all with your friends, yeah
And I don’t even wanna pretend
Should've listened when they told me it's a means to an end, yeah
And now I'm all on the fence

Die Fantastischen Vier - She's gone

To think that I find no other girl
One girl's gone, so what?
Wasn't she only a means to an end to you and a reason
To hide behind her, looking at other girls was taboo

Neru - Whatever~Whatever~Whatever~

They wait for treats with smooth talk
But flee the moment they see their prey.
They say lies are a means to an end
So I don't expect any sympathy, whatever.

Watchhouse - The Wolves

At my door you're welcome in
There can be no transgression
As a means to an end
On the wind the wolves are howling

Unloved - When a Woman is Around

I don't pretend to know the ways of the world
A means to an end seems the way
Whoever has the most of whatever is best

Megadeth - Foreclosure of a Dream

Rise so high, yet so far to fall
A plan of dignity and balance for all
Political breakthrough, euphoria's high
More borrowed money, more borrowed time

Dazzle - Pray and bite

We live, love grocery as a means to an end (Babylon)
We live it, live it and toss it away
We live, love grocery as a means to an end
We live it

Abdel Halim Hafez - Destined

Alongside me, you've never borne witness to one bit of cheer
Every quests brings you home with another wound1
And then you have the audacity to tell me to "forget all my lamentations!"

  • 1. Literally "Every time, you come back from the mishwaar with a wound." "mishwaar" means going out when it's actually a means to an end, and not just for recreation. So "quest," only it doesn't sound as RPG-esque in Arabic. So more like saying somebody's "away on business" or something. It's a great word to use to be evasive. Put-upon Wife: "Where have you been all evening?" Cheating Husband: "I was on a mishwaar" = "I was on a quest, M'Lady!" = "Just some work stuff I had to attend to."

Cellar Darling - Death

Time is just a means to an end
Who are you to decide since it all comes down on me?
I can end your suffering so
Take my hand I'll never let you go

Mili - Paper Bouquet

Too late to be a good girl today?

Bury my new friend, means to an end
Decomposing sailor shirts

Will Varley - King for a King

Six weeks later, she starts to see colour
And you swear that no harm will come to her or her mother
Your means to an end, well it's starting to suffer, say

Miracle of Sound - Wake The White Wolf

Keen to the scent, the hunt is my muse
A means to an end this path that I choose
Lost and aloof are the loves of my past

Ferry - COMFORT ZONE

Morphine, aspirin, fentanyl
Paracetamol
325mg red
325mg rose

Movements - Suffer Through

So I'll suffer through
A means to an end, it's all I can do
You wanna move mountains?

EMOLECULE - Mastermind

There’s no time to pretend
That what you see
It has no means to an end
With all that’s good

Marion Crane - Sociopath

My madness is a means to an end,
This nihilism has become my friend
It's wrong but I do it for me
Conscience, a waste of energy

Clark S. Nova - Alone

Seal him in
Believe in
Project a means to an end
What he breaks we will mend

Grace Jones - This Is

This is the pen
This is my weapon
A means to an end