intercourse
Americannoun
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intercourses
plural
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sexual intercourse, especially coitus.
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dealings or communication between individuals, groups, countries, etc.
- Synonyms:
- traffic, trade, commerce, sexual relations, sex act, sex, relations, copulation
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interchange of thoughts, feelings, etc.
noun
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communication or exchange between individuals; mutual dealings
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of intercourse
First recorded in 1425–75; late Middle English intercurse, from Medieval Latin intercursus “communication, trading,” Latin “a running between, interposition”; see inter-, course
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:
That meant LGBTQ+ and single people who historically had been shut out by definitions of infertility as a failure to conceive after six to 12 months of unprotected heterosexual intercourse.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 27, 2026
From dawn to dusk, observant Muslims the world over will refrain from eating, drinking, smoking and sexual intercourse.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 10, 2024
As he warned, the “logical consequences of … a decision which elevates commercial intercourse … to the same plane as has been previously reserved for the free marketplace of ideas, are far reaching indeed.”
From Slate ● Nov. 2, 2023
Emergency contraception - including emergency contraceptive pills and copper-bearing intrauterine devices - can prevent about 95% of pregnancies when taken within five days of intercourse, the WHO says.
From BBC ● May 31, 2023
No intercourse with Harriet possible but by note; no church for her on Sunday any more than on Christmas Day; and no need to find excuses for Mr. Elton’s absenting himself.
From "Emma" by Jane Austen
An observer who can also speculate,—one who looks before and after,—will conclude that, amidst some evil, the change is advantageous; and that good must, on the whole, arise from enlarged intercourses between men and societies.
From How to Observe Morals and Manners by Harriet Martineau
In all the intercourses of her family, since the first rough usage which she remembered, there had never been anything sweet or gracious.
From The Way We Live Now by Anthony Trollope
As she frankly admitted, she had rather fallen back on Edith, finding her, after many experiments, the most agreeable of friends, chiefly because in their intercourses everything was always taken for granted.
From Love's Shadow by Ada Leverson
Here he spent the rest of days in devotional exercises in friendly intercourses with other Sufis and in religious instruction of the young.
From Mystics and Saints of Islam by Claud Field
Yet to me it seemed that the lads actually sought to avoid these casual intercourses.
From Fibble, D.D. by Tony Sarg
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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.
