target

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

• noun An object, such as a padded disk with a marked surface, that is shot at to test accuracy in rifle or archery practice.
• noun Something aimed or fired at.
• noun An object of criticism or verbal attack.
• noun One to be influenced or changed by an action or event.
• noun A desired goal.
• noun A railroad signal that indicates the position of a switch by its color, position, and shape.
• noun The sliding sight on a surveyor's leveling rod.
• noun A small round shield.
• noun A usually metal part in an x-ray tube on which a beam of electrons is focused and from which x-rays are emitted.
• transitive verb To aim at or identify as a target.
• transitive verb To identify or treat as the object of action, criticism, or change.
• transitive verb To design for or direct toward a specific object or audience.
• idiom (on target) Completely accurate, precise, or valid.

from The Century Dictionary.

• noun A shield.
• noun In the seventeenth century, a shield of any form used by an infantry soldier as a substitute for body-armor. Compare targeteer.
• noun A shield-shaped, circular, or other mark at which archers or users of firearms shoot for practice or for a prize: so called from the mark, which usually consists of concentric rings.
• noun Figuratively, anything at which observation is aimed; one who or that which is a marked object of curiosity, admiration, contempt, or other feeling.
• noun On a railroad, the frame or holder in which a signal is displayed, as at switches.
• noun The sliding sight on a leveling-staff. Also called vane. See cut under leveling-staff.
• noun In heraldry, a bearing representing a round shield, or buckler.
• noun A pendant, often jeweled; a tassel.
• noun A shred; slice.
• noun In archery, the five circles count as follows: gold center, 9; red, 7; inner white or blue, 5; black, 3; outer white, 1.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

• noun A kind of small shield or buckler, used as a defensive weapon in war.
• noun A butt or mark to shoot at, as for practice, or to test the accuracy of a firearm, or the force of a projectile.
• noun The pattern or arrangement of a series of hits made by a marksman on a butt or mark.
• noun (Surveying) The sliding crosspiece, or vane, on a leveling staff.
• noun (Railroad) A conspicuous disk attached to a switch lever to show its position, or for use as a signal.
• noun engraving A thin cut; a slice; specif., of lamb, a piece consisting of the neck and breast joints.
• noun Obs. Scot. A tassel or pendent; also, a shred; tatter.
• noun A goal for an activity.
• noun A metallic object toward which a beam of electrons is aimed in a tube designed to generate X-rays; when the electrons strike the target, the impact causes emission of X-rays.
• noun Any object toward which a beam of photons, a laser beam, an electron beam, or a beam of atomic or subatomic particles is aimed.
• noun A person who is the subject of criticism or ridicule.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

• noun A butt or mark to shoot at, as for practice, or to test the accuracy of a firearm, or the force of a projectile.
• noun A goal or objective.
• noun A kind of small shield or buckler, used as a defensive weapon in war.
• noun obsolete A shield resembling the Roman scutum. In modern usage, a smaller variety of shield is usually implied by this term.
• noun sports The pattern or arrangement of a series of hits made by a marksman on a butt or mark.
• noun surveying The sliding crosspiece, or vane, on a leveling staff.
• noun rail transport A conspicuous disk attached to a switch lever to show its position, or for use as a signal.
• noun cricket the number of runs that the side batting last needs to score in the final innings in order to win
• noun linguistics The tenor of a metaphor.
• noun translation studies The translated version of a document, or the language into which translation occurs.
• noun A person (or group of people) that a person or organization is trying to employ or to have as a customer, audience etc.
• verb transitive To aim something, especially a weapon, at (a target).
• verb transitive, figuratively To aim for as an audience or demographic.
• verb transitive, computing To produce code suitable for.