"to all intents and purposes" meaning in English

{
  "etymology_text": "1500s, English law, originally “to all intents, constructions, and purposes” (found in an act adopted under Henry VIII in 1547).",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "prepositional phrase",
        "head": ""
      },
      "expansion": "to all intents and purposes",
      "name": "head"
    },
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "to all intents and purposes",
      "name": "en-PP"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "prep_phrase",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "British English",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English positive polarity items",
          "parents": [
            "Positive polarity items",
            "Terms by semantic function"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "To all intents and purposes the case is closed."
        },
        {
          "text": "This treaty is to all intents and purposes no longer viable."
        },
        {
          "ref": "2011 December 19, Kerry Brown, “Kim Jong-il obituary”, in The Guardian",
          "text": "With the arrival of the cold war, relations between the two countries (for this is, to all intents and purposes, what they became after the end of the war) were almost completely broken off, with whole families split for the ensuing decades, some for ever.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2020 November 18, Gareth Dennis, “Can Cambridgeshire plan transform transportation?”, in Rail, page 64",
          "text": "Have you heard the word \"gadgetbahn\"? It's a portmanteau coined to describe transport proposals that, to all intents and purposes, ought to be delivered using proven railway technology... and yet go out of their way to be anything but a railway.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "For every functional purpose; in every practical sense; in every important respect; practically speaking."
      ],
      "id": "en-to_all_intents_and_purposes-en-prep_phrase-yH80DD31",
      "links": [
        [
          "practically",
          "practically"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic, British) For every functional purpose; in every practical sense; in every important respect; practically speaking."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "effectively"
        },
        {
          "word": "essentially"
        },
        {
          "word": "in essence"
        },
        {
          "word": "in effect"
        },
        {
          "word": "practically"
        },
        {
          "word": "virtually"
        },
        {
          "tags": [
            "US"
          ],
          "word": "for all intents and purposes"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "British",
        "idiomatic"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "for every functional purpose",
          "word": "käytännössä"
        },
        {
          "code": "he",
          "lang": "Hebrew",
          "sense": "for every functional purpose",
          "word": "לכל דבר ועניין"
        },
        {
          "code": "it",
          "lang": "Italian",
          "sense": "for every functional purpose",
          "word": "a tutti gli effetti"
        },
        {
          "code": "sv",
          "lang": "Swedish",
          "sense": "for every functional purpose",
          "word": "praktiskt taget"
        },
        {
          "code": "sv",
          "lang": "Swedish",
          "sense": "for every functional purpose",
          "word": "i allt väsentligt"
        },
        {
          "code": "sv",
          "lang": "Swedish",
          "sense": "for every functional purpose",
          "word": "så gott som"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "En-au-to all intents and purposes.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/e/e6/En-au-to_all_intents_and_purposes.ogg/En-au-to_all_intents_and_purposes.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e6/En-au-to_all_intents_and_purposes.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "word": "to all intents and purposes"
}

{
  "etymology_text": "1500s, English law, originally “to all intents, constructions, and purposes” (found in an act adopted under Henry VIII in 1547).",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "prepositional phrase",
        "head": ""
      },
      "expansion": "to all intents and purposes",
      "name": "head"
    },
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "to all intents and purposes",
      "name": "en-PP"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "prep_phrase",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "British English",
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English idioms",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English positive polarity items",
        "English prepositional phrases",
        "English terms with audio links",
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "To all intents and purposes the case is closed."
        },
        {
          "text": "This treaty is to all intents and purposes no longer viable."
        },
        {
          "ref": "2011 December 19, Kerry Brown, “Kim Jong-il obituary”, in The Guardian",
          "text": "With the arrival of the cold war, relations between the two countries (for this is, to all intents and purposes, what they became after the end of the war) were almost completely broken off, with whole families split for the ensuing decades, some for ever.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2020 November 18, Gareth Dennis, “Can Cambridgeshire plan transform transportation?”, in Rail, page 64",
          "text": "Have you heard the word \"gadgetbahn\"? It's a portmanteau coined to describe transport proposals that, to all intents and purposes, ought to be delivered using proven railway technology... and yet go out of their way to be anything but a railway.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "For every functional purpose; in every practical sense; in every important respect; practically speaking."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "practically",
          "practically"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic, British) For every functional purpose; in every practical sense; in every important respect; practically speaking."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "British",
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "En-au-to all intents and purposes.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/e/e6/En-au-to_all_intents_and_purposes.ogg/En-au-to_all_intents_and_purposes.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e6/En-au-to_all_intents_and_purposes.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "effectively"
    },
    {
      "word": "essentially"
    },
    {
      "word": "in essence"
    },
    {
      "word": "in effect"
    },
    {
      "word": "practically"
    },
    {
      "word": "virtually"
    },
    {
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ],
      "word": "for all intents and purposes"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "for every functional purpose",
      "word": "käytännössä"
    },
    {
      "code": "he",
      "lang": "Hebrew",
      "sense": "for every functional purpose",
      "word": "לכל דבר ועניין"
    },
    {
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "sense": "for every functional purpose",
      "word": "a tutti gli effetti"
    },
    {
      "code": "sv",
      "lang": "Swedish",
      "sense": "for every functional purpose",
      "word": "praktiskt taget"
    },
    {
      "code": "sv",
      "lang": "Swedish",
      "sense": "for every functional purpose",
      "word": "i allt väsentligt"
    },
    {
      "code": "sv",
      "lang": "Swedish",
      "sense": "for every functional purpose",
      "word": "så gott som"
    }
  ],
  "word": "to all intents and purposes"
}