Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English - goal

~ n 1 something that you hope to achieve in the future; aim  (achieve a goal)  (We've achieved our goal of building a shelter for the homeless. | long-term goal/short-term goal (=that you hope to achieve after a long or short time)) 2 the action of making the ball go into the scoring (score2 (1)) area in games such as football or hockey, or the point won by doing this  (score a goal)  (Baggio scored the first goal for Italy.) 3 the area between two posts where the ball must go for a point to be won  (keep goal (=be the goalkeeper))