cooperate

verb

co·​op·​er·​ate kō-ˈä-pə-ˌrāt 

cooperated; cooperating; cooperates

intransitive verb

1

: to act or work with another or others : act together or in compliance

refused to cooperate with the police

2

: to associate with another or others for mutual benefit

nations cooperating to fight terrorism

cooperator

kō-ˈä-pə-ˌrā-tər 

noun

Synonyms of cooperate

• collaborate
• unite

Examples of cooperate in a Sentence

It will be much easier if everyone cooperates.

Several organizations cooperated in the relief efforts.

The country agreed to cooperate with the other nations on the trade agreement.

The mother asked the child to put on his pajamas, but the child refused to cooperate.

Witnesses were willing to cooperate.

Recent Examples on the Web

As seen in a now-viral video on TikTok, Alexis took matters into her own hands and bribed her little girl with $2 to cooperate and smile for picture day. —Georgia Slater, PEOPLE, 30 Apr. 2026

Clayton said Wednesday's indictment should signal that officials who cooperate with drug traffickers are not immune to justice. —Tom Winter, NBC news, 30 Apr. 2026

Uthmeier has issued subpoenas to OpenAI requesting records of company policies and training materials for when users make threats to harm themselves or others and for cooperating with law enforcement and reporting possible crimes. —Lauren Fichten, CBS News, 30 Apr. 2026

Police said the driver remained at the scene and has cooperated with the investigation. —Rick Hurd, Mercury News, 30 Apr. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Late Latin cooperatus, past participle of cooperari, from Latin co- + operari to work — more at operate

First Known Use

1582, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for cooperate

• abdicate
• abrogate
• acetate
• activate
• actuate
• adsorbate
• aggravate
• agitate
• alginate
• alienate
• allocate
• amputate

Kids Definition

cooperate

verb

co·​op·​er·​ate kō-ˈäp-(ə-)ˌrāt 

cooperated; cooperating

: to act, work, or associate with others so as to get something done