1. means to an end - Noun
2. means to an end - Phrase
means to an end (plural means to an end or means to ends)
A method by which a goal is achieved.
Mickey Mouse is, to me, a symbol of independence. He was a means to an end. Walt Disney
Deficit reduction is not an end in itself. It is the means to an end. Canadians must now decide what kind of country they want to build with the hard-won dividend. Jean Chrétien
For let there be no mistake about it: freedom is not an end in itself-it is only a means to an end. The moment you achieve freedom from something, the question arises: What is this freedom for? It is this question which the Muslim millah is now being called upon to answer. Muhammad Asad
These days a passion to accumulate knowledge of any and every kind consumed him; but only as a means to an end. He must know all things, for only so might he have, when situations arose in the future, a full pack of cards to play from. Mervyn Peake
Drawing is but a means to an end. One imagines that drawing can be beautiful-it is not the lines which are beautiful, but what they signify, the sentiments which they translate. In reality, there is no such thing as beauty in drawing, or color beauty lies alone in revelation of truth. Auguste Rodin
The ego ... reduces the present to a means to an end. Eckhart Tolle