cooperate
Americanverb (used without object)
-
cooperates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
cooperated,
past participle, past
-
cooperating
present participle
-
to work or act together or jointly for a common purpose or benefit.
-
to work or act with another or other persons willingly and agreeably.
- Synonyms:
- participate, join, collaborate
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to practice economic cooperation.
verb
-
to work or act together
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to be of assistance or be willing to assist
-
economics (of firms, workers, consumers, etc) to engage in economic cooperation
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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cooperatesimple
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cooperatessimple
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have cooperatedperfect
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has cooperatedperfect
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am cooperatingprogressive
-
are cooperatingprogressive
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is cooperatingprogressive
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have been cooperatingperfect progressive
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has been cooperatingperfect progressive
Past
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cooperatedsimple
-
had cooperatedperfect
-
was cooperatingprogressive
-
were cooperatingprogressive
-
had been cooperatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of cooperate
First recorded in 1595–1605; from Late Latin cooperātus, past participle of cooperārī “to work with”; see co-, operate
Explanation
When you cooperate, you work together. You can cooperate with the police by telling them everything you know about your neighbor’s pet leopard, or your preschooler can cooperate with you by doing everything you tell him to do, now! The verb cooperate is originally from the combination of The Latin prefix co-, meaning “together,” and operari, meaning “to work.” The term “co-op” is a shortening of cooperative and is used when people work together (or cooperate) to run a preschool, health food store, or a residence. When you start or join a co-op, be prepared to cooperate with your partners, and remember: somebody has to clean the bathrooms.
Vocabulary lists containing cooperate
UCPS 6th Grade Roots List #1
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Divergent
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Chapter 28: The Cold War Era
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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:
The military aid package to the BIR, officials said, served the dual purpose of adding a new incentive for Cameroon to cooperate on accepting U.S. deportees while also supporting U.S. counterterrorism efforts in the region.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 29, 2026
In 1864, with the nation at war, Lincoln held an election he expected to lose and privately pledged to cooperate with his successor.
From Salon ● Oct. 28, 2026
San Diego County Supervisor Paloma Aguirre, in a statement Tuesday, wrote that ICE and CoreCivic must quickly reach the person’s family, cooperate with a thorough investigation and share what they find with the public.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 27, 2026
Russia and Ukraine both said they would cooperate on the truce, with the Kremlin praising Melania Trump's role.
From Barron's ● Oct. 23, 2026
The only way to build Göbekli Tepe was for thousands of foragers belonging to different bands and tribes to cooperate over an extended period of time.
From "Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind" by Yuval Noah Harari
Angelenos are exactly where they need to be to see Thursday’s partial “blood moon” lunar eclipse — provided the weather cooperates.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2026
His business also cooperates with the National Emergency Supply Organisation.
From BBC ● Mar. 18, 2026
Greenland is literally the polar opposite of Venezuela: a lightly populated, democratically governed territory of Denmark, itself a North Atlantic Treaty Organization ally that cooperates closely with the U.S. on security.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 5, 2026
The Fed disputes that claim and says it voluntarily cooperates with the commission but isn’t legally bound by its decisions.
From Barron's ● Jan. 5, 2026
I put on a dress too, run a comb through my hair until it cooperates.
From "Patina" by Jason Reynolds
The act's most controversial element - offering immunity from prosecution to suspects who cooperated with an information recovery body - was disapplied after being found by the courts to be unlawful.
From BBC ● Oct. 13, 2026
After Kao’s arrest, he added, the company fully cooperated with law enforcement.
From Salon ● Sep. 23, 2026
A swarm of AI agents bypassed internal limits, created their own message board, and cooperated to hack another AI firm.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 15, 2026
Along with the stigma this created, the tactic allowed Flynn’s defense to claim she had cooperated with prosecutors under threat of a criminal charge for what the newspaper delicately called the “illegal operation.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 2, 2026
The doctor showed much doubt and perhaps regret that he had ever cooperated with me in this transformation.
From "Black Like Me" by John Howard Griffin
An Aurora Aviation representative said the company is cooperating with the investigation.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 3, 2026
“There’s a lot to be gained from cooperating on developing superintelligence software.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 20, 2026
Six Flags, in a statement, said it is cooperating fully with the local investigation.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 13, 2026
SK hynix said in a statement sent to AFP it was "taking various measures to more objectively identify the characteristics of disease occurrence" and was fully cooperating with government inquiries.
From Barron's ● Oct. 7, 2026
But ever since I’d messed up our presentation, my mind still wasn’t cooperating.
From "Sir Fig Newton and the Science of Persistence" by Sonja Thomas
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
