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design
by design
Deliberately and purposefully; as one planned or intended. I assure you that everything you saw has happened by design.
a camel is a horse designed by a committee
Committees, due to their reliance on several different opinions and viewpoints, produce results that are fragmented, inefficient, or of poor quality, especially compared to the work of a single individual or a small team. A: "Did you see this latest memo? Can you believe the asinine decisions the task force made?" B: "Well, a camel is a horse designed by a committee."
design something for someone
to conceive of something for someone; to draw up plans of something for someone. Ann designed a new kitchen for us. Would you design a book cover for me?
design something for something
to conceive of something that is to be part of something else; to draw up plans for something that is to be part of something else. The engineers designed a cure for the rattling problem. Bob, the computer programmer, designed a fix for the bug in the program. She designed a system of shelving for the library.
have designs on someone or something
Fig. to have plans to exploit or somehow take advantage of someone or something. Mrs. Brown has designs on my apple tree. I think she's going to cut off the part that hangs over her fence. Mary has designs on Bill. I think she'll try to date him.
(whether) by accident or design
whether intended to be this way or not The system, whether by accident or design, benefits people who live in the cities more than people who live in the country.
more by accident than (by) design
because of luck and not because of skill I kicked the ball and, more by accident than design, it found its way into the net.
have designs on somebody
to want to have a sexual relationship with someone She suspected that Helen had designs on her husband.
have designs on something
to want to have something and to plan to get it I knew that David had designs on my half of the business.
by design
On purpose, deliberately, as in Whether by luck or by design, his application was accepted. This term, originally put as on design, uses design in the sense of "plan." [First half of 1600s]
have designs on
Contrive a secret plot or scheme, especially with selfish motives. For example, I think he has designs on my job, or Mary has designs on her sister's boyfriend. This term uses design in the sense of "a crafty plan," a usage dating from about 1700.