Thesaurus results for MATING

mating 1 of 2

noun

as in sex

sexual union involving penetration of the vagina by the penis if the mare doesn't get pregnant from this mating, you don't have to pay for the second try

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mating

2 of 2

verb

present participle of mate

as in sleeping

to engage in sexual intercourse cats conceive almost every time they mate

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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 mating

Noun

The park is a stop on the Indiana Birding Trail, offering chances to see a diverse array of species at different stages of migration, mating and raising their young. —

Usa Today Network, USA Today, 10 June 2026 Durrell alternates between slapstick domestic high jinks, wanderings through the lush natural landscape, and increasingly ambitious investigations of biological life, from tracking twitching bacteria in pond water to the mating habits of insects. —

Rachel Syme, New Yorker, 10 June 2026 Unsual mating rituals are emerging in modern times. —

Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 2 June 2026 Male bowerbirds are notorious for their complex mating rituals. —

ArsTechnica, 2 June 2026 Researchers from the University of Hawaii have also found that Olowalu in particular is a mating hub for tiger sharks, according to Hawaii News Now. —

Charlotte Phillipp, PEOPLE, 24 May 2026 The onset of mating season this spring has escalated tensions, with the males’ loud early morning mating calls particularly aggravating residents. —

Amarachi Orie, CNN Money, 14 May 2026 And Jack Brand, an aquatic ecologist at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, wanted to know how illicit drugs like cocaine might change fish behavior, like foraging and mating. —

Regina G. Barber, NPR, 12 May 2026 In a new study, researchers documented seven cases of remoras, a fish known for suctioning itself onto rays—as well as sharks, dolphins, boats and even divers—plunging into manta rays' cloacal orifice, an opening used for pooping, peeing and mating. —

Jackie Flynn Mogensen, Scientific American, 11 May 2026

Verb

The New World screwworm's larvae eat live flesh and fluids instead of dead material, with females laying their eggs in open wounds and mucous membranes after mating only once in their monthslong lives. —

Aimee Picchi, CBS News, 12 June 2026 By mating with sterile flies, the females don't produce more flies and outbreaks can eventually be halted. —

ABC News, 8 June 2026 By mating with sterile flies, the females don’t produce more flies and outbreaks can eventually be halted. —

Los Angeles Times, 8 June 2026 Darkness is essential to fireflies for mating and increasing their population. —

Mary Marlowe Leverette, Southern Living, 6 June 2026 The mass release of dud studs elbows out fertile males, preventing them from mating with females, which generally only mate once. —

ArsTechnica, 3 June 2026 Early summer is mating season for alligators. —

Cindy Krischer Goodman, Sun Sentinel, 3 June 2026 For the first time in 200 years, red-and-green macaws are mating in the Atlantic Forest in Brazil, according to BBC Wildlife. —

Christopher Edwards, PEOPLE, 11 May 2026 The males will sometimes pursue the females for up to one week before mating even occurs. —

Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 30 Apr. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for mating

Noun

The findings, from 1,592 U.S. citizens of different ages, sexes, races and incomes, were collected between Dec. 20 and Dec. 22.

— Nicholas Rice, PEOPLE, 28 Dec. 2025
On his first day in office, Mr. Trump signed an executive order that declared the federal government would recognize only two immutable sexes: male and female.

— CBS News, CBS News, 18 Dec. 2025