From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishall-purposeˌall-ˈpurpose adjective [only before noun]USE somethingable to be used in any situation
an all-purpose cleanerExamples from the Corpusall-purpose• Besides its high sonicstandards, DirectStreamDigital would serve as an all-purpose archival system.• There will be all-purposeauthorities for the delivery of services.• an all-purposecleaningfluid• There are as many varieties of all-purposeflour and again as many of pastry and cake flours.• Add wholewheat flour and all-purpose flour and stir.• Many cake recipes call for all-purpose flour, but those that suggest cake flour do so for a reason.• You can buy an all-purposegreetingscard, with blankspace, for you to write in your own message.• The all-purposeonion may be eatenraw or cooked; it loses heat when cooked.• This is the ordinary, all-purpose staccato with no implication of either accent, emphasis or special sharpness.
