cooperate
Americanverb (used without object)
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cooperates,
present (3rd person singular)
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cooperated,
past participle, past
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cooperating
present participle
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to work or act together or jointly for a common purpose or benefit.
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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
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to work or act together
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to be of assistance or be willing to assist
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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
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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
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had cooperatedperfect
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was cooperatingprogressive
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were cooperatingprogressive
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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:
In a statement, a Stanford spokesperson said the campus “complies with all applicable visa laws, including those relating to J-1 visas. We will cooperate with the investigation.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 8, 2026
Assuming family members cooperate, this can save taxes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026
As the authorities circled closer, Zeepvat said Abbatiello pleaded with him not to cooperate.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 28, 2026
Oman's foreign minister, Sayyid Badr bin Hamad bin Hamood Albusaidi, told the UN General Debate that "all parties" should cooperate with Oman in efforts to safeguard navigation in the strategic waterway.
From BBC ● Sep. 27, 2026
Sapiens can cooperate in extremely flexible ways with countless numbers of strangers.
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
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
In a written statement, a Grindr spokesperson said the company cooperates with law enforcement and encourages people to use its video calling feature to verify connections for safety before meeting in person.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 9, 2025
And the City, in its own way, gets down for you, cooperates, smoothing its sidewalks, correcting its curbstones, offering you melons and green apples on the comer.
From "Jazz" by Toni Morrison
After Kao’s arrest, he added, the company fully cooperated with law enforcement.
From Salon ● Sep. 23, 2026
They cooperated, created a strategy no one designed them for, picked their own target, moved on their own initiative.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 10, 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
Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei, meanwhile, warned countries of "consequences" if they cooperated with US efforts.
From Barron's ● Aug. 24, 2026
The weather cooperated for her, but the Lysander fought her for nearly two hours.
From "Code Name Verity" by Elizabeth Wein
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 the president has never had to confront a prop that has stopped cooperating.
From Salon ● Oct. 6, 2026
A spokesman for the Marine Corps said it is cooperating with Japanese authorities and takes the allegations very seriously.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 4, 2026
The US Embassy in Tokyo said that it is fully cooperating with the Japanese government and local police.
From BBC ● Oct. 4, 2026
Maybe cooperating with Dr. Cable would really be helping Shay, and would set things back on course for herself.
From "Uglies" by Scott Westerfeld
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.
