collaborate
Americanverb (used without object)
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collaborates,
present (3rd person singular)
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collaborated,
past participle, past
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collaborating
present participle
verb
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to work with another or others on a joint project
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to cooperate as a traitor, esp with an enemy occupying one's own country
Usage
What does collaborate mean? Collaborate means to work together, especially on a goal or shared project. Collaborate is often used in a positive context to refer to two or more parties successfully working together on professional or artistic projects. It often implies more than just cooperation. When two or more people collaborate, they often share and develop each other’s ideas. The act of collaborating is called collaboration. Such a joint effort can be described with the adjective collaborative. People who collaborate are called collaborators. Collaborate can also be used in a much more specific way meaning to cooperate as a traitor with enemy forces in one’s own country. This is much less commonly used than its general sense. Example: The two musicians, who usually have very different styles, collaborated on the groundbreaking new album.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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collaboratesimple
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collaboratessimple
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have collaboratedperfect
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has collaboratedperfect
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am collaboratingprogressive
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are collaboratingprogressive
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is collaboratingprogressive
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have been collaboratingperfect progressive
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has been collaboratingperfect progressive
Past
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collaboratedsimple
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had collaboratedperfect
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was collaboratingprogressive
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were collaboratingprogressive
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had been collaboratingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of collaborate
First recorded in 1870–75; from Late Latin collabōrātus (past participle of collabōrāre), equivalent to col- col- 1 + labor “work” + -ātus -ate 1
Compare meaning
How does collaborate compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
When you work together on shared goal, you collaborate. If you don't just split a project up evenly but work together on creating solutions, you collaborate. Inside the word you see co-labor, or "working together." Cooperation is simply splitting up the work and getting it done. Collaboration is when you brainstorm, create, and share possible solutions. During World War II, however, Nazi collaborators were sharing ideas with the wrong side. In today's pop music scene, collaboration means featuring a guest star on a record, and it's often a surefire way to boost sales.
Vocabulary lists containing collaborate
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The Diary of Anne Frank
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Paul Nolette, a Marquette University political science professor who studies attorneys general, said that the role has become more expansive in recent years as states increasingly collaborate on big lawsuits.
From Salon ● Oct. 11, 2026
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said he had spoken with his UAE counterpart Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan and agreed "to collaborate against extremist elements seeking to harm security and undermine stability".
From Barron's ● Oct. 1, 2026
Broadcaster Netflix said Alalshikh's The Ring and White would collaborate to promote the event, but Joshua's promoter Eddie Hearn said his fighter's contract prevented White from having a promotional role.
From BBC ● Sep. 29, 2026
That plan didn’t pan out, schedule-wise, but the filmmaker and the artist finally found a way to collaborate.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 28, 2026
It enabled more people in more places to design, display, manage, and collaborate on business data previously handled manually.
From "The World Is Flat" by Thomas L. Friedman
It is also a founding member of the VPN Trust Initiative and collaborates with cybersecurity expert Troy Hunt to refine breach response protocols and educate users on data safety.
From Salon ● Mar. 27, 2026
He specializes in analyzing data and public records to find stories and collaborates with reporters who cover many subjects.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 26, 2026
The label said it believes "both versions of the track infringe on Jorja's rights and unfairly take advantage of the work of all the songwriters with whom she collaborates".
From BBC ● Dec. 1, 2025
The study was funded by a research grant from Mars, Inc., which collaborates with researchers to study potential benefits of cocoa flavanols for human health.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 27, 2025
For the body can become a marvellous instrument of beauty and harmony when it vibrates in tune with artistic imagination and collaborates with creative thought.
From The Eurhythmics of Jaques-Dalcroze by Emile Jaques-Dalcroze
The Financial Times reported that Starbucks has collaborated with advisers on a Chipotle takeover proposal.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 8, 2026
North Carolina Democrats collaborated with Voters of Tomorrow, an entirely Gen Z-led organization seeking to promote political engagement among that demographic, for its national summit in August.
From Salon ● Oct. 2, 2026
US rapper and songwriter Will.i.am, who has also appeared as a coach on The Voice alongside Sir Tom, collaborated on a Change.org Instagram post on 15 September which shared Howlett's petition.
From BBC ● Sep. 23, 2026
To solve this problem, Chen's group collaborated with How's team to develop a two-step AI-driven control system.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 22, 2026
He’d collaborated with grassroots leaders, everyday citizens, and elected officials, and almost miraculously it had yielded results.
From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama
UK forces are also collaborating with Interpol, shipping companies and vehicle manufacturers to address an issue "that spans globally", she says.
From BBC ● Oct. 14, 2026
A discussion about collaborating on a project between Martínez Celaya and L.A.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 2, 2026
OpenAI global policy chief Chris Lehane said on Tuesday that the company had been collaborating on AI safety issues with Anthropic and Google DeepMind for several weeks.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 19, 2026
He plans to spend time in Mexico City, collaborating with sculptor Brian Thoreen on a project that they hope will illuminate new solutions to the city’s water shortages.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 17, 2026
In addition to collaborating on the company’s games, he masterminded all of their early marketing campaigns and shareware distribution schemes, with astounding results.
From "Ready Player One: A Novel" by Ernest Cline
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
