mating — English Dictionary

Adjective

1. Fitting into or onto a corresponding part, as a matched plug and socket.

   Usage

   • not-comparable

Noun

1. Pairing of organisms for copulation.

   Examples

   The progeny of backcrosses and intercrosses will form some incrosses and some matings of other types.

2. Sexual union; copulation.

   Examples

   More examples (1)

   Earless ghost swift moths become “invisible” to echolocating bats by forming mating clusters close (less than half a meter) above vegetation and effectively blending into the clutter of echoes that the bat receives from the leaves and stems around them.

Noun

1. the act of pairing a male and female for reproductive purposes

   Synonyms

   couplingpairingconjugationunionsexual union

   Broader terms

   sexual activitysexual practicesexsex activity

   Examples

   the casual couplings of adolescents

   the mating of some species occurs only in the spring