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1 a

: either of the two major forms of individuals that occur in many species and that are distinguished respectively as female or male especially on the basis of their reproductive organs and structures

In the past, couples could hold fast to their dreams about their baby's sex until the moment of truth in the delivery room. — Jacquelyn Mitchard

b

: the sum of the structural, functional, and sometimes behavioral characteristics of organisms that distinguish males and females

Doctors can alter the physical characteristics of sex , but bodily sex does not determine gender. — Dinitia Smith

c

: the state of being male or female

… Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits employment discrimination based on sex . — Tamar Lewin

d

: males or females considered as a group

He gave the minister a sly look, daring him to disparage the female sex . — Evelyn Anthony

2 a

: sexually motivated phenomena or behavior

b

: sexual intercourse

3

: genitalia

1

: to identify the sex of

sex newborn chicks

2 a

: to increase the sexual appeal of

— often used with up

b

: to arouse the sexual desires of

Noun

The form asks for your name, age, and sex .

The couple didn't know what the sex of their baby would be.

How do you tell the sex of a hamster?

discrimination on the basis of sex

Some feel men are the more aggressive sex .

All he ever thinks about is sex .

Her mom talked to her about sex .

She doesn't like all the sex and violence in movies.

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Recent Examples on the Web: Noun

Brown’s manual mocks one of the foundational myths of a patriarchal order: that women are sex ’s passive recipients.

—

Megan Garber, The Atlantic , 19 May 2022

Read More: Saudi Prince’s Year of Prestige Is Unraveling in Front of Him
The government has ended a ban on driving for women, allowed music and entertainment and lifted restrictions on both sexes mingling in public.

—

Donna Abu-nasr, Bloomberg.com , 20 May 2020

One of the findings shows a disparity between men and women—although both sexes have been infected in roughly equal numbers, the death rate among men was higher.

—

Claire Gillespie, Health.com , 10 Apr. 2020

Staff won't know the cubs' sexes until Echo has bonded with her cubs and staff can get a closer look safely.

—

Rachael Lallensack, Smithsonian Magazine , 9 Apr. 2020

While sex 's supposed positive effects on your immune system is widely reported, the actual research tells a slightly more complicated story.

—

Elizabeth Gulino, refinery29.com , 3 Apr. 2020

The anchoring tension is between sex ’s transformative possibility and the ever-present danger of harm, whether psychic, social, or even that of violence and infection.

—

Julian Lucas, Harper's magazine , 6 Jan. 2020

High school years ahead and mothers will be replaced by buddies, clans and hangout pals of both sexes .

—

Susan Glaser, cleveland , 3 May 2020

Human-like rats For the first experiment, Keysers and his team trained 24 rats of both sexes to push two different levers that produced a treat, until the animals developed a preference for one lever.

—

National Geographic , 5 Mar. 2020

Recent Examples on the Web: Verb

But bring the kids anyway to this daftly sexed -up production.

—

Los Angeles Times , 12 Sep. 2019

To make matters all the more thirsty, that poster’s genitalia-like woodlands surround a smooching couple who appear to be a sexed -up version of beastiality tale Beauty and The Beast.

—

Ariana Romero, refinery29.com , 20 Jan. 2020

The preppy East Coast label has collaborated with everyone from Sacai and Supreme to Vetements, but West’s topper was a fresh foil for her typically sexed -up take on sportswear.

—

Edward Barsamian, Vogue , 13 Dec. 2018

Yandy’s ark of offerings is evidence that pretty much any animal can be sexed up, although not all animals are equally alluring.

—

Rachel Sugar, Vox , 26 Oct. 2018

The most sexed -up take on the look saw one guy swaggering down the runway like a cheeky gunslinger.

—

Liana Satenstein, Vogue , 25 Sep. 2018

Wills is officially headed to paradise, or, at least, sexed -up Bachelor Nation spin-off series Bachelor In Paradise, as People announced.

—

refinery29.com , 10 July 2018

The classic look would often get sexed up with spit curls that lay slicked to the forehead, at the nape of the neck, or in front of the ear, thanks to the influence of Josephine Baker.

—

Rebecca Norris, Allure , 22 May 2018

Each walleye harvested by the tribes is measured and sexed .

—

Paul A. Smith, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel , 9 May 2018

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anti - sex
fairer sex
fair sex
gentler sex
gentle sex
opposite sex
oral sex
phone sex
safe sex
same - sex
secondary sex characteristic
sex act
sex appeal
sex cell
sex change (operation)
sex chromatin
sex chromosome
sex drive
sex education
sex gland
sex hormone
sex kitten
sex life
sex - limited
sex - linkage
sex - linked
sex object
sex offender
sex shop
sex symbol
sex worker
the opposite sex
the sex act

See More

anti - sex
fairer sex
fair sex
gentler sex
gentle sex
opposite sex
oral sex
phone sex
safe sex
same - sex
secondary sex characteristic
sex act
sex appeal
sex cell
sex change (operation)
sex chromatin
sex chromosome
sex drive
sex education
sex gland
sex hormone
sex kitten
sex life
sex - limited
sex - linkage
sex - linked
sex object
sex offender
sex shop
sex symbol
sex worker
the opposite sex
the sex act

See More

MLA
Chicago
APA
Merriam-Webster

1

: either of two divisions into which many living things can be divided according to their roles in reproduction and which consist of males or females

2

: the state of being male or female

The form asks for your name, age, and sex .

3

: sexual activity

1 a

: either of the two major forms of individuals that occur in many species and that are distinguished respectively as male or female especially on the basis of their reproductive organs and structures

In the past, couples could hold fast to their dreams about their baby's sex until the moment of truth in the delivery room. — Jacquelyn Mitchard

b

: the sum of the structural, functional, and sometimes behavioral characteristics of organisms that distinguish males and females

Doctors can alter the physical characteristics of sex , but bodily sex does not determine gender. — Dinitia Smith

c

: the state of being male or female

Inherited risks refer here to biological vulnerability to illness because of one's sex . — Lois M. Verbrugge

2 a

: sexually motivated phenomena or behavior

b

: sexual intercourse

: to identify the sex of

techniques for sexing human embryos

macaroons
macarons

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The words sex and gender have a long and intertwined history. In the 15th century gender expanded from its use as a term for a grammatical subclass to join sex in referring to either of the two primary biological forms of a species, a meaning sex has had since the 14th century; phrases like "the male sex" and "the female gender" are both grounded in uses established for more than five centuries. In the 20th century sex and gender each acquired new uses. Sex developed its "sexual intercourse" meaning in the early part of the century (now its more common meaning), and a few decades later gender gained a meaning referring to the behavioral, cultural, or psychological traits typically associated with one sex, as in "gender roles." Later in the century, gender also came to have application in two closely related compound terms: gender identity refers to a person's internal sense of being male, female, some combination of male and female, or neither male nor female; gender expression refers to the physical and behavioral manifestations of one's gender identity. By the end of the century gender by itself was being used as a synonym of gender identity . Among those who study gender and sexuality, a clear delineation between sex and gender is typically prescribed, with sex as the preferred term for biological forms, and gender limited to its meanings involving behavioral, cultural, and psychological traits. In this dichotomy, the terms male and female relate only to biological forms ( sex ), while the terms masculine / masculinity , feminine / femininity , woman / girl , and man / boy relate only to psychological and sociocultural traits ( gender ). This delineation also tends to be observed in technical and medical contexts, with the term sex referring to biological forms in such phrases as sex hormones , sex organs , and biological sex . But in nonmedical and nontechnical contexts, there is no clear delineation, and the status of the words remains complicated. Often when comparisons explicitly between male and female people are made, we see the term gender employed, with that term dominating in such collocations as gender differences , gender gap , gender equality , gender bias , and gender relations . It is likely that gender is applied in such contexts because of its psychological and sociocultural meanings, the word's duality making it dually useful. The fact remains that it is often applied in such cases against the prescribed use. Usage of sex and gender is by no means settled. For example, while discrimination was far more often paired with sex from the 1960s through the 20th century and into the 21st, the phrase gender discrimination has been steadily increasing in use since the 1980s and is on track to become the dominant collocation. Currently both terms are sometimes employed with their intended synonymy made explicit: sex/gender discrimination , gender (sex) discrimination .

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'sex.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback .

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1
1878, in the meaning defined at sense 1
From the Editors at Merriam-Webster
A euphemism for those who have had sex in an airplane in transit
“Sex.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary , Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sex. Accessed 5 Jun. 2022.
Medical Definition of sex (Entry 2 of 2)
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