make love
Idioms-
Court, engage in amorous caressing, as in Romance was in the air, and she hoped he would make love to her . [Late 1500s]
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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]
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.
Precarious and uncertain times make love stories even more seductive.
From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 13, 2025
Sea fog and cloud obscure any view of Taiwan, but still, they line up to take photographs at a strategically placed stone arch, using their arms to make love heart signs above their heads.
From BBC • Jan. 10, 2024
In “Jewish Matchmaking,” professional Cupid Aleeza Ben Shalom attempts to make love connections for Jewish singles in both the United States and Israel.
From Seattle Times • May 3, 2023
But VanderMeer’s brilliant formal tricks make love feel abstract and unconvincing by the end, a flimsy human ideal.
From New York Times • Dec. 3, 2019
She knew now that marriage did not make love.
From "Their Eyes Were Watching God" by Zora Neale Hurston
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.
