sex

noun

1. (countable)A category into which sexually-reproducing organisms are divided on the basis of their reproductive roles in their species; the system of such categories, which can differ by organism or by taxonomic branch.

   “The effect of the medication is dependent upon age, sex, and other factors.”

   “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.”

   “I would never have guessed […] that slime molds can have thirteen sexes.”

   “The State Department and current Secretary of State Marco Rubio are expressly directed under the injunction to “to process and issue passports [...] consistent with the State Department’s policy as of January 19, 2025,” and to allow passport applicants to self-declare their gender even if that information is “different from the sex assigned to those individuals under the [Trump] Passport Policy.””

2. (countable)Another category, especially of humans and especially based on sexuality or gender roles.

   “Still there are some loop-holes out of which a man may creep, and dare to think and act for himself; but for a woman it is an herculean task, because she has difficulties peculiar to her sex to overcome, which require almost super-human powers.”

   “"But now another sex, in arms, is brought, / And, realms to guard, are eunuchs able thought!"”

   “A black old neutral personage / Of the third sex stept up.”

   “I have encountered officers who believe a woman got a better assignment or somehow "got over" because of her sex.”

3. (countable)The members of such a category, taken collectively.

   “It was a weakness / In me, but incident to all our sex.”

   “The sensibility of the female sex appears […] to be greater than that of the male.”

4. (uncountable)The distinction and relation between these categories, especially in humans; gender.

   “A lot of women now like men to pay for them on dates... We've dealt with the outdated view of sex underpinning this.”

5. (literary, obsolete, uncountable, with-definite-article)Women; the human female gender and those who belong to it.

   “The sex of Venice are undoubtedly of a distinguished beauty.”

   “I was not, however, better than my neighbors; the Sex had its charms for me as it had for others; But there always remained a sting, that time only wore away.”

   “Even the reptile temperament of Noel Vanstone warmed under the influence of the sex: he had an undeniably appreciative eye for a handsome woman, and Magdalen's grace and beauty were not thrown away on him.”

6. (uncountable)Sexual activity, usually sexual intercourse unless preceded by a modifier.

   “We marry in fear and trembling, sex for a home is the woman's traffic, and the man comes to his heart's desire when his heart's desire is dead.”

   “If you want to have sex, you've got to trust / At the core of your heart, the other creature.”

   “1934, translation of the Qur'an (23:5) by Abdullah Yusuf Ali (The believers ... those ... ) who abstain from sex”

   “Why wasn't Bond ‘more tender’ in his love-making? Why did he just ‘have sex’ and disappear?”

   “It wouldn't work with you... Sex, I mean. You're... easy to be with. You're... you're not dangerous. You're my best friend, John. I couldn't have it on with my best friend, John. It would be embarrassing. Sorry. Honest.”

7. (countable, euphemistic, slang)Genitalia: a penis or vagina/vulva.

   “Another ha's gon through with the bargain... One that will find the way to her Sex, before you'le come to kissing her hand.”

   “And the black cypresses strained upwards like the sex of a hanged man.”

   “She touched his sex with her hand.”

   “And he put in a fake sex (penis) because he wanted to make the scene more real, more rude.”

8. (alt-of, alternative, obsolete)Alternative form of sect.

verb

1. (transitive)To determine the sex of (an animal).

   “If we sex the cattle, which is the only way to get at their value, we shall have... 400 cows, 200 yearling heifers.”

   “The ability to sex birds invasively through laparoscopy initially solved that problem, but now it is even easier and less stressful on the birds through testing the DNA of their feathers or blood.”

   “Semen usually is sexed at 90% accuracy, and the sexes of calves at birth almost always are in that statistical range if averaged over […]”

2. (US, colloquial, transitive)To have sex with.

   “As good as Muddah had handled me in bed, sexing her hadn't done a damn thing to take my mind off my cousin Smoove.”

   “He shows some glimpses, but most of the released singles are about flossing, partying, and sexing women.”

   “Sex with Ivory had gotten better than sexing his wife. Herschel laughed with Ivory, cried with Ivory. They dreamt aloud together. Unlike Nikki, Ivory believed in him. Every man needed a woman who believed in him.”

   “"Do you ever think about how you're betraying your client while you're sexing his wife?"”

   “Wosick-Correa, K. R., 81 Joseph, L. J. Sexy ladies sexing ladies: Women as consumers in strip clubs. Journal of Sex Research, 45, 3 (July 2008), 201-216.”

3. (US, colloquial, intransitive)To have sex.

   “Our baby is eighteen months old now, and cries when we sex”