menstruate

[ men-stroo-eyt, -streyt ]

/ ˈmɛn struˌeɪt, -streɪt /

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verb (used without object), men·stru·at·ed, men·stru·at·ing.

to undergo menstruation.

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Origin of menstruate

1640–50; v. use of earlier menstruate menstruous, Middle English <Late Latin mēnstruātus, equivalent to mēnstru(a) monthly courses (see menstrual) + -ātus-ate¹

OTHER WORDS FROM menstruate

un·men·stru·at·ing, adjective

Words nearby menstruate

menstrual cup, menstrual cycle, menstrual extraction, menstrual period, menstruant, menstruate, menstruation, menstruous, menstruum, mensurable, mensural

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use menstruate in a sentence

This is familiar for many menstruating people who already bear the burden of preventing pregnancy, especially when facing partners who won’t wear condoms.
Why Access to Birth Control Is No Substitute for Abortion Rights|Krystale E. Littlejohn|September 17, 2021|Time
Of course, not all women have uteruses, and not all people who have uteruses, or who menstruate, are women.
Medical Myths About Gender Roles Go Back to Ancient Greece. Women Are Still Paying the Price Today|Elinor Cleghorn|June 17, 2021|Time
Alongside their brief biographies are frequent asides about the lack of recognition these ladies endured, or something about how if men had to menstruate it would become a sacred act.
Meet the forgotten rebels and quiet revolutionaries of women’s history|Lisa Birnbach|March 5, 2021|Washington Post
For instance, some women use it not only to curb premenstrual symptoms, but also to control when they menstruate.
The Pill Is More Than Birth Control|Keli Goff|July 29, 2014|DAILY BEAST

The always-edifying Ann Coulter tweeted that Marines were “protecting his right to menstruate.”
Chris Hayes’s Honesty Mistake: Troops Need Citizens Questioning Policy|Peter Beinart|May 29, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Today the most basic choice is whether or not to menstruate at all.
Tackling A Feminine Taboo|Danielle Friedman|November 12, 2009|DAILY BEAST
The drugs allow women to menstruate just four or fewer times a year.
Tackling A Feminine Taboo|Danielle Friedman|November 12, 2009|DAILY BEAST
I ceased to menstruate for about a year, which my doctor has said could have a lasting impact on my fertility.
Was I Born Anorexic?|Rachel Shukert|April 16, 2009|DAILY BEAST
A girl who began to menstruate when at the age of nine years, became pregnant very shortly afterwards (d'Outreport).
The Sexual Life of the Child|Albert Moll
In my own opinion there is no doubt but that some females really do menstruate while pregnant.
The Matron's Manual of Midwifery, and the Diseases of Women During Pregnancy and in Childbed|Frederick Hollick
She was reared in the utmost poverty, was chlorotic, and did not menstruate till she was eighteen years old.
Fasting Girls|William Alexander Hammond
But then why don't all women menstruate at the same time with the same moon, I mean?
Ulysses|James Joyce
It is extremely rare for a woman to conceive who does not menstruate regularly.
Fruits of Philosophy|Charles Knowlton

British Dictionary definitions for menstruate

menstruate

/ (ˈmɛnstrʊˌeɪt) /

verb

(intr) to undergo menstruation

Word Origin for menstruate

C17: from Latin menstruāre, from mensis month

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

Medical definitions for menstruate

menstruate

[ mĕn′strōō-āt′ ]

To undergo menstruation.