so that

so that idiom
  1. In order that, as in I stopped so that you could catch up.
  2. With the result or consequence that, as in Mail the package now so that it will arrive on time.
  3. so ... that. In such a way or to such an extent that, as in The line was so long that I could scarcely find the end of it. All three usages date from a.d. 1000 or earlier, and the first two are sometimes put simply as so, as in I stopped so you could catch up, or Mail it now so it will arrive on time.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

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