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as in to sleep
to engage in sexual intercourse the time of year when deer in the wild are likely to copulate

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of copulate The Santal, in South Asia, believed that witches (always female) copulated with spirit familiars and devoured the organs of children. Manvir Singh, New Yorker, 17 May 2025 He was groped over and under his clothes, forced to fondle and orally copulate the perpetrators and repeatedly raped. Jeff McDonald, Mercury News, 12 May 2025 Religious leaders specified days on which, for medical or liturgical reasons, married couples were not to copulate—one Irish rule book from the early seventh century excluded a good two-thirds of the year. S. C. Cornell, The New Yorker, 12 Mar. 2025 Once the toxin took effect, males mounted the females and copulated for between 40 and 75 minutes, without the risk of being gobbled up. Sarah Kuta, Smithsonian Magazine, 11 Mar. 2025 See All Example Sentences for copulate
Recent Examples of Synonyms for copulate
sleep
Verb
  • White noise machines and humidifiers are frequently available, along with extra blankets, air purifiers, and blackout curtains or sleep masks.
    Iona Brannon, Travel + Leisure, 10 Nov. 2025
  • McKenna posited that breastfeeding helped babies sleep more while increasing their milk supply and offering greater protection against Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).
    Jack Beresford, MSNBC Newsweek, 10 Nov. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Copulate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/copulate. Accessed 29 Nov. 2025.

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