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
100 Top "SAT" Words
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The Diary of Anne Frank
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Essential English Vocabulary, List 1
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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:
Zuckerberg outlined policy recommendations for the federal government to collaborate with AI companies for safety-testing of their models.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026
The Fed would continue to collaborate with Treasury and other departments, but Fed governors would be protected from arbitrary removal without cause.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 11, 2026
Few details about the project were revealed, apart from a denial that the pair would collaborate on a double album.
From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026
The siblings collaborate on walk-around suits and puppets large and small.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 29, 2026
How can I go global and collaborate with others through my country?
From "The World Is Flat" by Thomas L. Friedman
Ostrovskiy left Russia after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine and sold his company, which now collaborates with the government.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 29, 2026
Project Glasswing collaborates with cybersecurity firms like CrowdStrike and Palo Alto Networks to adapt Mythos for defense.
From Barron's ● Apr. 10, 2026
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
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
With such a husband one collaborates in the maintenance of the ménage and the management of a small business, something substantial if small.
From Red Masquerade by Louis Joseph Vance
In addition to state parks personnel, several agencies have collaborated to comb through the park for Brophy including the San Diego County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue Team; the U.S.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026
In one of the more unexpected launches this summer, Sunderland have collaborated with the Elvis Presley estate to release this striking kit in a colourway synonymous with the King's early years in Louisiana.
From BBC ● Aug. 9, 2026
Is it wrong—or savvy—that the Dodgers have collaborated with players like Ohtani to take massive deferments?
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 3, 2026
Sipe of the University of Toronto, who collaborated with the researchers on an earlier project, had predicted that such an "electron lighthouse" could be created.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 28, 2026
Several people had collaborated to write “The Ballad of Ben, Brewer Supreme.”
From "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss
It is building a pilot facility in Yuma, Ariz., and is collaborating with farmers and technical experts in Arizona, California and elsewhere to further evaluate hesperaloe’s viability as a commercial crop.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 3, 2026
Hand now runs a workshop housing more than 20 pieces of rescued equipment, running DIY classes, commercial commissions and collaborating with local artists.
From BBC ● Aug. 1, 2026
Scientists from the University of California San Diego and collaborating institutions examined data from an earlier clinical trial involving 108 adults with HIV-associated lipohypertrophy, a condition that causes excess fat to accumulate around the abdomen.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 14, 2026
The practice of museums collaborating with fashion houses, tapping their archives and presenting their designs, is today widespread, and fashion as a legitimate form of art is now celebrated throughout the world.
From Barron's ● Jul. 9, 2026
“You are meant to be working separately, not in this...this debauched juxtaposition. I have warned you about collaborating, it is not the proper way to exhibit your skills.”
From "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern
Definitions 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.
