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:
Such problems led to agreements among the perpetually warring European countries bordering the Rhine to cooperate in fixing them.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026
In court testimony Monday, it was revealed that Shakur was conscious after the shooting en route to the hospital but did not cooperate with authorities.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 17, 2026
Species that live this way form colonies containing overlapping generations, cooperate in raising young and divide reproductive responsibilities.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 15, 2026
Las Vegas police have long said witnesses refused to cooperate.
From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2026
Sapiens can cooperate in extremely flexible ways with countless numbers of strangers.
From "Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind" by Yuval Noah Harari
Coinciding with the new Moon, dark skies will create ideal viewing conditions for the peak where the weather cooperates.
From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2026
A Nexo spokeswoman said the platform cooperates with law-enforcement requests, but couldn’t comment publicly on individual clients.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 28, 2026
His business also cooperates with the National Emergency Supply Organisation.
From BBC ● Mar. 18, 2026
The investigation comes just a month before Lunar New Year, which is a popular travel period in China. Trip.com’s business operations will continue as normal while it cooperates with the probe, the company said.
From Barron's ● Jan. 14, 2026
“Stop making trouble, Nina. If Helvar cooperates, he and Muzzen will both have their freedom just as soon as the job is done.”
From "Six of Crows" by Leigh Bardugo
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed initially sought rapprochement with Eritrea when he came to power, and the two governments cooperated against the Tigrayan rebels in the 2020-2022 conflict.
From Barron's ● Aug. 11, 2026
Chipotle has cooperated in the investigation, including providing records, removing suspected jalapeños from its restaurants and taking steps to prevent further transmission, Medus said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026
Instead, the residents of Mohenjo-daro may have cooperated to give households broad access to the resources needed for a comfortable standard of living.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 30, 2026
Coupang denies the accusation, saying it had submitted everything that was requested and had fully cooperated with Comwel's investigation.
From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026
"Gantos here gives us the names of all his St. Croix contacts and we'll tell the judge he cooperated."
From "Hole in My Life" by Jack Gantos
His lawyer, Jonathan Savella, said he could “neither confirm nor deny” whether his client is cooperating.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2026
In May the Justice Ministry invoked its new anti-extraterritorial-jurisdiction rules for the first time, forbidding Chinese entities from cooperating with the European Commission’s investigation, under the Foreign Subsidies Regulation, into Chinese security-equipment maker Nuctech.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 18, 2026
A spokesperson for Serco said: "This matter is currently being handled by the police, and we are cooperating fully. As this relates to an ongoing legal process, it would be inappropriate to comment further."
From BBC ● Aug. 18, 2026
Ateneo de Zamboanga president Father Guillrey Andal, confirming the two fatalities, said the school was "deeply saddened" by the shooting and was cooperating with the investigation.
From Barron's ● Aug. 18, 2026
I tried to get the lowdown on some of my new teachers, the inside stuff, but Theresa wasn’t cooperating.
From "Tangerine" by Edward Bloor
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.
