subgoal

noun

sub·​goal ˌsəb-ˈgōl 

variants or sub-goal

plural sub-goals

: a goal that is involved in or secondary to achieving a larger goal

… it would probably also be a mistake to make robots in which subgoals would interfere with the main goals.

—John McCarthy

This is, in effect, the question of how relatively broad nonoperational goals are broken down into more specific and concrete operational goals and subgoals.

—Lyman W. Porter et al.

Examples of subgoal in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Apparently, hastening completion of the subgoal of grabbing a bucket made completion of the main goal seem closer at hand. —Seriously Science, Discover Magazine, 24 June 2016

Word History

First Known Use

1932, in the meaning defined above