urinate

American

[yoor-uh-neyt] / ˈyʊər əˌneɪt /

verb (used without object)

urinated, urinating

to pass or discharge urine.

urinate British

/ ˈjʊərɪˌneɪt /

verb

(intr) to excrete or void urine; micturate

"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

Other Word Forms

urination noun
urinative adjective

Etymology

Origin of urinate

1590–1600; < Medieval Latin ūrīnātus, past participle of ūrīnāre, equivalent to Latin ūrīn ( a ) urine + -ātus -ate ¹

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.

Selam found life in the mountains of Tigray challenging: "For me it was difficult to urinate in the wild."

From BBC • Mar. 5, 2026

Some people with kidney failure cannot urinate, so a machine cleans the body of toxins and excess fluid.

From BBC • Aug. 19, 2025

Those symptoms can include needing to urinate more frequently, as well as a slow or weak urinary stream.

From BBC • May 19, 2025

From Amazon forcing workers to urinate in bottles to Walmart penalizing employees for taking sick days, employers everywhere use and abuse their authority in the workplace to humiliate, demean, and harass workers.

From Salon • Mar. 28, 2025

Since he had a lifelong distrust of doctors, he tolerated the discomfort until late September 2007, when his pain and inability to urinate became excruciating.

From "Endgame" by Frank Brady

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023