26984 words

sex

6 definitions • 16 examples
1
the physical state of being either male, female, or intersex:

Examples:

What sex is your cat?
Some tests enable you to find out the sex of your baby before it's born.
It's illegal to discriminate against people on the basis of (their) sex.
She accused her employer of sex discrimination (= of treating her unfairly because she was a woman).
2
all males considered as a group, or all females considered as a group:

Examples:

She seems to regard all members of the male sex as inferior.
Members of the opposite sex are not allowed in students' rooms overnight.
3

Examples:

Sex before/outside marriage is strongly disapproved of in some cultures.
She was complaining about all the sex and violence on television.
She'd been having sex with a colleague at work for years.
Most young people now receive sex education at school.
extramarital/premarital sex
casual sex (= sex with someone you do not know)
unprotected sex (= sex without using something to prevent disease or becoming pregnant)
4
to discover if an animal is male or female:

Examples:

How do you sex fish?
5
the state of being either male or female, or all males or all females considered as a group :

Examples:

[ C ] List the name, age, and sex of each of your children.
[ U ] Employment discrimination on the basis of sex is illegal.

Navigation