cooperative

or co-op·er·a·tive

[ koh-op-er-uh-tiv, -op-ruh-tiv, -op-uh-rey-tiv ]

/ koʊˈɒp ər ə tɪv, -ˈɒp rə tɪv, -ˈɒp əˌreɪ tɪv /

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See synonyms for: cooperative / cooperatives / cooperatively / cooperativeness on Thesaurus.com

adjective

working or acting together willingly for a common purpose or benefit.

demonstrating a willingness to cooperate: The librarian was cooperative in helping us find the book.

pertaining to economic cooperation: a cooperative business.

involving or denoting an educational program comprising both classroom study and on-the-job or technical training, especially in colleges and universities.

noun

a jointly owned enterprise engaging in the production or distribution of goods or the supplying of services, operated by its members for their mutual benefit, typically organized by consumers or farmers.

Also called co-op, cooperative apartment.

a building owned and managed by a corporation in which shares are sold, entitling the shareholders to occupy individual units in the building.
an apartment in such a building.Compare condominium (defs. 1, 2).

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Origin of cooperative

From the Late Latin word cooperātīvus, dating back to 1595–1605. See cooperate, -ive

OTHER WORDS FROM cooperative

co·op·er·a·tive·ly, co-op·er·a·tive·ly

[koh-op-er-uh-tiv-lee, -op-ruh-tiv-, -op-uh-rey-tiv-], /koʊˈɒp ər ə tɪv li, -ˈɒp rə tɪv-, -ˈɒp əˌreɪ tɪv-/, adverbco·op·er·a·tive·ness, co-op·er·a·tive·ness, nounun·co·op·er·a·tive, adjectiveun·co·op·er·a·tive·ly, adverb

un·co·op·er·a·tive·ness, noun

Words nearby cooperative

coop, cooper, cooperage, cooperate, cooperation, cooperative, cooperative bank, cooperative farm, Cooperative Party, cooperative society, cooperative store

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use cooperative in a sentence

Organized by the local but globally focused Art4Us Artists cooperative, “CounterCurrent” features work by four principals of that group — Nana Bagdavadze, Katty Biglari, Antonella Manganelli and Grazia Montalto.
In the galleries: Rejuvenating the obsolete into unconventional art|Mark Jenkins|February 12, 2021|Washington Post
Some farmers and small food producers have been able to switch to e-commerce, engaging in cooperatives in which they can have an equity stake and bypass traditional supply chains.
We Can End Hunger in America—If We're Willing to Make Significant Changes to Our Food System|Pierre Ferrari|January 29, 2021|Time
“Naked mole-rats are incredibly cooperative and incredibly vocal, and no one has really looked into how these two features influence one another,” says Alison Barker, a neuroscientist at the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in Berlin.
Naked mole-rat colonies speak with unique dialects|Jonathan Lambert|January 28, 2021|Science News
Some, like Minecraft and Animal Crossing are purely cooperative.
Video gaming is for everybody now. Here’s how to get back into it.|Harry Guinness|January 25, 2021|Popular-Science

American Crystal Sugar, an agricultural cooperative, has “not made any decisions with regard to contributions from its political action committee,” Kevin Price, vice president of government affairs said in an email.
Lawmakers who objected to election results have been cut off from 20 of their 30 biggest corporate PAC donors|Douglas MacMillan, Jena McGregor|January 19, 2021|Washington Post
Magnum came into being as a cooperative only two years after the conclusion of World War II.
A History of Paris in 150 Photographs|Sarah Moroz|December 14, 2014|DAILY BEAST
When officers tried to arrest him after he grew angry, Garner was non-cooperative.
Eric Garner Protests: ‘It’s Like Vietnam’|Abby Haglage, Caitlin Dickson, Jacob Siegel, Chris Allbritton|December 5, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Another widows cooperative, Avega, is also currently attempting to open a retirement home for widows of the genocide.
After the Genocide, Rwanda’s Widows Aging Alone|Nina Strochlic|August 31, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The agency was not only cooperative, but “welcoming” of the research.
Why Did America’s Only Pot Researcher Suddenly Get Fired?|Abby Haglage|July 10, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Take this lack of cooperative instinct and add a competitive situation, and Benenson says you get a real conundrum.
People Prefer ‘The Bachelor’ to ‘The Bachelorette.’ Why? It’s Science.|Brandy Zadrozny|July 1, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Sometimes a farmer would give a sheep, and the local cooperative society provided the bread at half the cost of production.
The Underworld|James C. Welsh
But when he tried to express the cooperative impulse that stirred within him, his noises became gibberish.
Before Adam|Jack London
At the end of 1836 the hand-loom weavers of Philadelphia proper had two cooperative shops and were planning to open a third.
A History of Trade Unionism in the United States|Selig Perlman
The handloom weavers in two of the suburbs of Philadelphia started cooperative associations at the same time.
A History of Trade Unionism in the United States|Selig Perlman
The cooperative principle met with success among the English-speaking people only outside the larger cities.
A History of Trade Unionism in the United States|Selig Perlman

British Dictionary definitions for cooperative

cooperative

co-operative

/ (kəʊˈɒpərətɪv, -ˈɒprə-) /

adjective

willing to cooperate; helpful

acting in conjunction with others; cooperating

(of an enterprise, farm, etc) owned collectively and managed for joint economic benefit
(of an economy or economic activity) based on collective ownership and cooperative use of the means of production and distribution

noun

a cooperative organization

Also called: cooperative apartment US a block of flats belonging to a corporation in which shares are owned in proportion to the relative value of the flat occupiedSometimes shortened to: coop Compare condominium (def. 3)

Derived forms of cooperative

cooperatively or co-operatively, adverbcooperativeness or co-operativeness, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

cooperative

or co-op·er·a·tive

Origin of cooperative

OTHER WORDS FROM cooperative

Words nearby cooperative

Words related to cooperative

How to use cooperative in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for cooperative

co-operative

Derived forms of cooperative