make love

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Court, engage in amorous caressing, as in Romance was in the air, and she hoped he would make love to her. [Late 1500s]

Have sexual intercourse, as in They'd been making love well before they married. This usage today is the more common of the two. [Mid-1900s]

QUIZ

THINGAMABOB OR THINGUMMY: CAN YOU DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THE US AND UK TERMS IN THIS QUIZ?

Do you know the difference between everyday US and UK terminology? Test yourself with this quiz on words that differ across the Atlantic.

Question 1 of 7

In the UK, COTTON CANDY is more commonly known as…

Words nearby make love

Terrorism is bad news anywhere, but especially rough on Odessa, where the city motto seems to be “make love, not war.”
Is Putin Turning to Terrorism in Ukraine?|Anna Nemtsova|January 6, 2015|DAILY BEAST
But in the “Role-Play” episode, he tells her that now they make love, and says, “You have an old idea of who I am.”
Adam Driver on Role-Play Sex with Lena Dunham on ‘Girls’ and Adam’s Stormy Relationship with Hannah|Marlow Stern|March 10, 2014|DAILY BEAST
It's what the world do—they make love, they party, they have sex.
Why Has the Public Forgiven R. Kelly for His Sordid, Predatory Past?|Marlow Stern|December 9, 2013|DAILY BEAST
She then teaches one reserved boy how to make love to the camera.
Carine Roitfeld Documentary ‘Mademoiselle C’ Offers Intimate Look|Isabel Wilkinson|September 11, 2013|DAILY BEAST

“We did not make love very often,” Douglas once told her daughter, Margaret.
15 Revelations from New J.D. Salinger Biography|Andrew Romano|September 2, 2013|DAILY BEAST
When he wanted to make love to a woman, pour tout de bon, it would not be to Mrs. Ducksmith.
The Joyous Adventures of Aristide Pujol|William J. Locke
He makes love to her, just because it is the nature of a lusty son of Adam to make love to a pretty daughter of Eve.
The Joyous Adventures of Aristide Pujol|William J. Locke
In some provinces of Europe the girls make love, without their afterwards becoming less prudent wives.
A Philosophical Dictionary, Volume 1 (of 10)|Franois-Marie Arouet (AKA Voltaire)
Of course, the younger men tinkle the guitar, and make love more or less openly to the girls.
Spanish Life in Town and Country|L. Higgin and Eugne E. Street
I can gratify your humor with a right good will—only the lady I would make love to despises me.
A Little Union Scout|Joel Chandler Harris