as in sex
sexual union involving penetration of the vagina by the penis
our Puritan forebears imposed severe penalties for copulating outside of marriage
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
as in sleeping
to engage in sexual intercourse
the time of year when deer in the wild are likely to copulate
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for copulating
Noun
-
President Donald Trump signed an executive order in January saying that the federal government will only recognize two sexes: male and female.—
Sonam Sheth
Gabe Whisnant,
MSNBC Newsweek,
29 Aug. 2025 -
Shipwrecks off the North Carolina coast serve as aggregation sites for sand tiger sharks, and the digital photographs captured by those in the water often show bite wounds on both sexes.—
Melissa Cristina Márquez,
Forbes.com,
27 Aug. 2025
Verb
-
Earlier this year, Black celebrated the birth of another son, who was sleeping peacefully at home as Black recounted his story.—
Cara Anthony,
CNN Money,
11 Sep. 2025
-
There is no headboard, but when placed against a wall or in a corner, there’s still plenty of space to lean and lounge when not sleeping.—
Erika Owen,
Architectural Digest,
11 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
Researchers in Taiwan documented this rare case of a predator exploiting its prey’s mating signal to its own advantage.—
Mrigakshi Dixit,
Interesting Engineering,
29 Aug. 2025
-
Landscape Second Category Fauna And Flora After mating, a male leopard must escape the female’s claws within seconds.—
Cecilia Rodriguez,
Forbes.com,
29 Aug. 2025
Noun
-
Painful intercourse is not a thing in your world.—
Jocelyn Solis-Moreira,
Flow Space,
3 Sep. 2025
-
The Catholic Church believes intercourse should only happen between married couples and teaches abstinence for all others.—
Ladan Anoushfar,
CNN Money,
1 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
The designation reflects the deteriorating relations between the United States and one of its closest Latin American allies.—
Brady Knox,
The Washington Examiner,
16 Sep. 2025
-
In fact, Astorino said, developments in AI, policy, geopolitical relations and the economy are likely to accelerate both change and complexity.—
Megan Poinski,
Forbes.com,
15 Sep. 2025
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.
Cite this Entry
“Copulating.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/copulating. Accessed 18 Sep. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share