ADJ
- favourite, likely, natural, obvious, perfect, possible, potential, prime, suitable
- The prime minister is a favourite target of comedians
- easy, sitting, soft, tempting, vulnerable
- The stationary trucks were sitting targets for the enemy planes
- legitimate
- intended
- stationary
- moving
- ground
- military
- civilian, non-military
- terrorist
VERB + TARGET
- aim at, attack, go for, shoot at
- hit, reach (used of a missile)
- The bomb reached its intended target ten seconds later
- miss, overshoot
- The flare overshot its target and set light to a hotel
- destroy
- The missile is aimed specifically to destroy military targets
- track
- The radar beam can track a number of targets almost simultaneously
PREP
- off ~
- The missile veered way off target and landed in the sea
- on ~
- Politically speaking, his jibes were right on target
- ~ for
- an easy target for shoplifters
VERB + TARGET
- put up, set up
- The archers were setting up their targets
- aim at, shoot at
- hit
- miss
- use sth as
- The boys used an old tree stump as a target
PREP
- off ~
- Patton was just off target with a header
- on ~
- His first shot was bang on target
- wide of the ~
- The shot went wide of the target
ADJ
- achievable, attainable, low, modest, realistic
- ambitious, demanding, difficult, high, tough, unrealistic
- She has always set herself very high targets
- impossible
- clear
- chief, key, main, major, primary, prime, principal
- annual
- immediate, initial
- future, long-term, ultimate
- attainment, economic, financial, growth, inflation, performance, production, profit, recruitment, sales, spending
VERB + TARGET
- set
- Managers must set targets that are realistic
- aim for
- Pupils should be given a target to aim for
- achieve, meet, reach
- stay within
- in a desperate attempt to stay within budget targets
- exceed
- The company pays bonuses to workers who exceed production targets
- fall short of
TARGET + NOUN
- audience, group, market
- date
- to meet a target date of May 2002
- figure, price, weight
PREP
- above (a/the) ~
- Sales so far this year are 20% above target
- off ~
- These figures are way off target
- on ~
- We are still right on target
- over (a/the) ~
- Many wage settlements reached were over the original target of 4%
- towards (a/the) ~
- We are working towards a target of twenty cars a week
- ~ for
- setting new targets for growth