cooperate

verb

co·​op·​er·​ate kō-ˈä-pə-ˌrāt 

cooperated; cooperating; cooperates

intransitive verb

1

: to act or work with another or others : act together or in compliance

refused to cooperate with the police

2

: to associate with another or others for mutual benefit

nations cooperating to fight terrorism

cooperator

kō-ˈä-pə-ˌrā-tər 

noun

Synonyms of cooperate

• collaborate
• unite

Examples of cooperate in a Sentence

It will be much easier if everyone cooperates.

Several organizations cooperated in the relief efforts.

The country agreed to cooperate with the other nations on the trade agreement.

The mother asked the child to put on his pajamas, but the child refused to cooperate.

Witnesses were willing to cooperate.

Recent Examples on the Web

Russia, which has denied targeting civilians, didn't cooperate in the inquiry, according to the report. —Katrina Manson Bloomberg News, Arkansas Online, 23 Nov. 2025

Trees can anticipate, cooperate, and remember, in the ordinary sense of those terms. —Christian Wiman, Harpers Magazine, 23 Nov. 2025

The driver remained at the scene and is cooperating with the investigation into the cause of the accident. —La Risa R. Lynch, jsonline.com, 23 Nov. 2025

The United States will cooperate with Ukraine to jointly rebuild, develop, modernize, and operate Ukraine's gas infrastructure, including pipelines and storage facilities. —Brendan Cole, MSNBC Newsweek, 21 Nov. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Late Latin cooperatus, past participle of cooperari, from Latin co- + operari to work — more at operate

First Known Use

1582, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for cooperate

• abbreviate
• accelerate
• accommodate
• accumulate
• acuminate
• adjudicate
• adulterate
• affiliate
• agglomerate
• agglutinate
• alleviate
• amalgamate

Kids Definition

cooperate

verb

co·​op·​er·​ate kō-ˈäp-(ə-)ˌrāt 

cooperated; cooperating

: to act, work, or associate with others so as to get something done