SEX

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does sex mean? 

• SEX (noun)
  The noun SEX has 4 senses:

1. activities associated with sexual intercourse

2. either of the two categories (male or female) into which most organisms are divided

3. all of the feelings resulting from the urge to gratify sexual impulses

4. the properties that distinguish organisms on the basis of their reproductive roles

  Familiarity information: SEX used as a noun is uncommon.

• SEX (verb)
  The verb SEX has 2 senses:

1. stimulate sexually

2. tell the sex (of young chickens)

  Familiarity information: SEX used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SEX (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Activities associated with sexual intercourse

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

sex; sex activity; sexual activity; sexual practice

Context example:

they had sex in the back seat

Hypernyms ("sex" is a kind of...):

activity; bodily function; bodily process; body process (an organic process that takes place in the body)

Attribute:

heterosexual (sexually attracted to members of the opposite sex)

homosexual (sexually attracted to members of your own sex)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "sex"):

outercourse (sexual stimulation without vaginal penetration)

bestiality; sodomy; zooerastia; zooerasty (sexual activity between a person and an animal)

heterosexualism; heterosexuality; straightness (a sexual attraction to (or sexual relations with) persons of the opposite sex)

bisexuality (sexual activity with both men and women)

gayness; homoeroticism; homosexualism; homosexuality; queerness (a sexual attraction to (or sexual relations with) persons of the same sex)

lechery (unrestrained indulgence in sexual activity)

promiscuity; promiscuousness; sleeping around (indulging in promiscuous (casual and indiscriminate) sexual relations)

autoeroticism; autoerotism (using you own body as a sexual object)

perversion; sexual perversion (an aberrant sexual practice)

arousal; foreplay; stimulation (mutual sexual fondling prior to sexual intercourse)

breeding; facts of life; procreation; reproduction (the sexual activity of conceiving and bearing offspring)

conjugation; coupling; mating; pairing; sexual union; union (the act of pairing a male and female for reproductive purposes)

carnal abuse (any lascivious contact by an adult with the sexual organs of a child (especially not involving sexual intercourse))

love; love life; lovemaking; making love; sexual love (sexual activities (often including sexual intercourse) between two people)

pleasure (sexual gratification)

carnal knowledge; coition; coitus; copulation; intercourse; relation; sex act; sexual congress; sexual intercourse; sexual relation (sexual activity between individuals, especially the insertion of a man's penis into a woman's vagina until orgasm and ejaculation occur)

conception (the act of becoming pregnant; fertilization of an ovum by a spermatozoon)

safe sex (sexual activity (especially sexual intercourse) with the use of measures (such as latex condoms) to avoid the transmission of disease (especially AIDS))

bondage (sexual practice that involves physically restraining (by cords or handcuffs) one of the partners)

Derivation:

sex (stimulate sexually)

sexual (having or involving sex)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Either of the two categories (male or female) into which most organisms are divided

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Context example:

the war between the sexes

Hypernyms ("sex" is a kind of...):

category; class; family (a collection of things sharing a common attribute)

Derivation:

sex (tell the sex (of young chickens))

Sense 3

Meaning:

All of the feelings resulting from the urge to gratify sexual impulses

Classified under:

Nouns denoting feelings and emotions

Synonyms:

sex; sexual urge

Context example:

the film contained no sex or violence

Hypernyms ("sex" is a kind of...):

feeling (the experiencing of affective and emotional states)

Derivation:

sex (stimulate sexually)

sexy (marked by or tending to arouse sexual desire or interest)

sexy (stimulating sexual desire)

Sense 4

Meaning:

The properties that distinguish organisms on the basis of their reproductive roles

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

gender; sex; sexuality

Context example:

she didn't want to know the sex of the foetus

Hypernyms ("sex" is a kind of...):

physiological property (a property having to do with the functioning of the body)

Attribute:

male (being the sex (of plant or animal) that produces gametes (spermatozoa) that perform the fertilizing function in generation)

female (being the sex (of plant or animal) that produces fertilizable gametes (ova) from which offspring develop)

androgynous (having both male and female characteristics)

sexual (having or involving sex)

asexual; nonsexual (not having or involving sex)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "sex"):

maleness; masculinity (the properties characteristic of the male sex)

androgyny; bisexuality; hermaphroditism (showing characteristics of both sexes)

femaleness; feminineness (the properties characteristic of the female sex)

Derivation:

sex (tell the sex (of young chickens))

• SEX (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they sex    ... he / she / it sexes   
Past simple: sexed   
Past participle: sexed   
-ing form: sexing   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Stimulate sexually

Classified under:

Verbs of feeling

Synonyms:

arouse; excite; sex; turn on; wind up

Context example:

This movie usually arouses the male audience

Hypernyms (to "sex" is one way to...):

excite; shake; shake up; stimulate; stir (stir the feelings, emotions, or peace of)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "sex"):

tempt (try to seduce)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody

Derivation:

sex (activities associated with sexual intercourse)

sex (all of the feelings resulting from the urge to gratify sexual impulses)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Tell the sex (of young chickens)

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Hypernyms (to "sex" is one way to...):

differentiate; distinguish; secern; secernate; separate; severalise; severalize; tell; tell apart (mark as different)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

sex (the properties that distinguish organisms on the basis of their reproductive roles)

sex (either of the two categories (male or female) into which most organisms are divided)

 Context examples 

A steroid metabolite derived from sex hormones, which displays weak androgenic properties.

(Androsterone, NCI Thesaurus)

A substance that prevents cells from making or using androgens (hormones that play a role in the formation of male sex characteristics).

(Anti-Androgen, NCI Dictionary)

Miss Betsey Trotwood, the best of her sex!

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

It is needed to develop and maintain male sex characteristics, such as facial hair, deep voice, and muscle growth.

(Androstanolone, NCI Dictionary)

Describes the ability of tumor cells to grow in the absence of androgens (hormones that promote the development and maintenance of male sex characteristics).

(Androgen-independent, NCI Dictionary)

This is done by having the testicles removed, by taking female sex hormones, or by taking drugs called antiandrogens.

(Androgen ablation, NCI Dictionary)

It results in a female sex appearance or the development of both male and female characteristics.

(Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome, NCI Thesaurus)

Treatment with drugs used to block production or interfere with the action of male sex hormones.

(Antiandrogen therapy, NCI Dictionary)

A therapeutic regimen that utilizes pharmaceuticals to reduce serum levels of male sex hormones.

(Antiandrogen therapy, NCI Thesaurus)

The most common symptoms are: • Sores in the mouth • Sores on the sex organs • Other skin sores • Swelling of parts of the eye • Pain, swelling and stiffness of the joints

(Behcet's Syndrome, NIH: National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases)