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to rape

880 5.3
To force someone to have sex against their will
  • verb
  • /reɪp/
  • Offensive
: violar
  • Women should not be being raped by men in their prisons.
  • rape women
  • rape a girl
  • rape a man

His wife had been raped by her owner.

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Examples

  • In Thompson's Sex, Lies and Fairytales, Hazel is almost raped by her lover's brother.

    Academic text (2011)
  • He tried to rape me.

  • - He was trying to rape her!

  • And then the guy goes and tries to rape her sister and has her phone.

  • You took me in and I raped your daughter.

  • Nine years ago, my sister was raped and murdered.

  • He still killed the man who raped my daughter.

  • At one point, Esperanza is raped as she accompanies her friend Sally to a carnival.

    Academic text (1996)
  • He hits her, he pushes her, he rapes her repeatedly.

  • He tried to rape me in the parking lot last night.

Synonyms

to assault
vsto rape
  • Offensive
100 8.1

To force someone to have sex against their will

is used for forced intercourse specifically rather than wider attacks
to violate
vsto rape
  • Offensive
54 8.3

Force someone to have sex when they do not want to

is the common legal term for that violent sexual act
to ravish
vsto rape
  • Offensive
9 9.9

To force someone to have sex against their will

is the neutral modern term used in law and speech

Idioms

1 9.9

To claim someone was raped to get sympathy or advantage

Compounds

date rape
  • Offensive
35 7.9

A sexual act that someone forces on a person they know, often after a date

statutory rape
  • Offensive
26 8.5

Sex with a person younger than the age the law allows, even if both agree

3 8.5

A court decision that says someone committed rape

2 6.5

A person people think forced someone to have sex

rape card
  • Offensive
1 9.9

To claim you were sexually attacked to gain sympathy or avoid blame

rape oil
  • Archaic
1 5.3

A light yellow oil from rapeseed used for cooking and to help machines run

regret rape
  • Offensive
1 9.9

A claim that sex was forced after a person first agreed but later regretted it

1 9.9

An offensive phrase used to say one person is unfairly treated in a divorce, often about money or child custody

rape ape
  • Slur
1 9.9

An extremely offensive insult that says someone commits sexual violence

rape tool
  • Offensive
1 9.9

An object that helps someone commit sexual assault

1 9.1

A wild plant like a cabbage with yellow or white flowers and long seed pods

ear rape
  • Offensive
9.9

A very loud, harsh sound that hurts your ears

gate rape
  • Offensive
9.9

An unwanted sexual touching of a person at an event entrance during a security check

How Violent

to gang-rape
  • Offensive
17 9.9
to rape
  • Offensive
880 5.3
sexual assault
  • NSFW
180 5.7
to molest
  • Offensive
162 8.7

Surface Forms

rape infinitive
raped past
raped past participle
raping present participle
rapes third person singular

Etymology

The verb rape comes from Latin rapere, 'to seize' or 'take by force', so to rape someone historically meant to 'take' them by force; this is why the modern verb means forcing sexual intercourse against someone's will.