to have sex
∞
3.0
- phrasal verb
- /hæv sɛks/
- NSFW
:
tener relaciones sexuales
- I like to have sex with men.
- have sex with a partner
- want to have sex
- have sex without condoms
Hammerhead sharks would never have sex with that shark, ever.
- Hammerhead sharks would never have sex with that shark, ever.
- I mean, I don't, we don't have sex because we're not lovers, right?
- A man murders a man who is having sex with the first man's wife.
- Honey, I wasn't having sex with her as your husband.
- JD Vance did not have sex with a couch, OK.
- This guy is sleeping with or having sex with this guy's punk.
- And look, I've seen people have sex that should not be having sex.
- Are you going to have sex with yourself or are you not?
Examples
-
If you're going to have sex, you might as well get something out of it.
-
We should probably, like, have sex before we live together.
-
Never have I ever had sex in a car.
-
Would you rather have sex with a woman?
-
When it comes down to having sex, he cannot get it up.
-
Do you have to have sex every Friday?
-
Are you having sex with this person?
-
To what extent do men who have sex with men also have sex with women?
Academic text (1991) -
A man who was willing to have sex with a woman was capable of anything.
Fiction book (1993) -
Do you think he wants to have sex with you?
Synonyms
∞
9.9
To have sex with someone
999
9.8
To have sex with someone
698
8.6
To have sex with another person
675
9.9
To have sex with someone
652
7.4
To have sex with someone
296
5.3
Have sex with someone you love or care about
205
9.9
To have sex with someone, said as a rude word
125
9.3
To have sex with someone
122
9.9
To have sex with someone
95
9.9
To have sex with someone, usually in a short, casual way
69
7.4
Have sex with another person, often when not married
58
9.9
To have sex with someone, used as a rude word
23
8.1
To have sex with someone
16
7.9
Have sex with someone
12
9.0
To have sex with someone
10
7.9
To have sex, usually used for animals or in biology
6
9.1
To have sex with someone
5
5.1
To have physical contact with someone for pleasure, usually in a casual way
2
9.9
To have sex with someone
2
9.9
To have sex with someone
1
9.9
To have sex with someone
1
9.9
To have sex with someone, used in informal British English
1
9.9
To have sex with someone
To have sex with someone
To have sex briefly in a casual way
How Intimate
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly and compositionally derived from 'have' (to experience or engage in) plus 'sex' (sexual intercourse), so a learner who knows both words can infer 'to engage in sexual intercourse.' This structure is cross-linguistically common (e.g., Spanish 'tener sexo'), so a B1 learner would typically understand it, though they may need pragmatic awareness of register.
Etymology
The phrase have sex uses the ordinary verb have, as in have a meal or have a rest, meaning to take part in something. So have sex means 'to have sexual intercourse with someone'.