See Also: Sexual(medicine)
pan-sexual(dictionary)
sexual(dictionary)
sexual(dictionary)
Sexual(health)
Sexual Contact(law)
sexual dysfunction(encyclopedia)
sexual (as used in expressions)(encyclopedia)
Sexual health(health)
Sexual drive(health)

sexual (iou)



sexual adjective. M17.
[Late Latin sexualis, from Latin sexus SEX noun: see -UAL.]
Pertaining to or arising from the possession of a particular sex; relating to the sexes or to social relations between them. M17.
sexual equality, sexual stereotype, etc.
A. Lurie The blurring of..sexual differences.
Pertaining to or involving physical intercourse, as in reproduction; deriving from or relating to desire for sex or for carnal pleasure. L18.
sexual act, sexual activity, sexual assault, sexual attraction, sexual morality, sexual orgasm, sexual orientation, sexual partner, sexual preference, sexual prowess, etc.
M. Warner The prelapsarian state of Eve, before sexual knowledge corrupted her. T. Beattie She had never had any trouble in reaching a sexual climax. M. Amis They were fond of each other at first but then the relationship became purely sexual. L. Ellmann I'm here to talk through any sexual..problems.
Characteristic of or peculiar to one sex or the other. E19.
a. Of an animal or plant: having a sex, separated into two sexes; having sexual organs, producing offspring by means of sexual union. Opp. asexual. M19.
b. Of reproduction: taking place by means of physical union between (cells of) the two sexes. Opp. asexual or agamic. L19.
Special collocations: sexual cell a male or female reproductive cell; a sperm cell, an egg cell. sexual dimorphism distinct variation in form or appearance between the sexes of a species in addition to the sexual organs themselves. sexual discrimination discrimination in employment etc. against a person, esp. a woman, on grounds of sex. sexual harassment harassment, esp. of a woman, in a workplace etc. involving the making of unwanted sexual advances, obscene remarks, etc. sexual intercourse physical contact between individuals involving sexual stimulation of the genitals; spec. the insertion of a man's erect penis into a woman's vagina, followed by rhythmic movement and usu. ejaculation of semen; copulation, coitus. sexual interference euphem. sexual assault or molestation. sexual inversion: see INVERSION 9. sexual organ a reproductive organ in an animal or plant (freq. in pl.). sexual politics the principles determining the relationship of the sexes, relations between the sexes regarded in terms of power. sexual revolution the liberalization of established social and moral attitudes to sex. sexual role the culturally determined role or behaviour learned by a person as appropriate to his or her sex. sexual selection natural selection arising through preference by one sex for certain characteristics in individuals of the other sex. sexual system Hist. the Linnaean classification of plants, in which plants are grouped according to the number of stamens and pistils per flower.
? See note s.v. SEX noun & adjective.
sexualism noun (now rare or obsolete) sexuality as a principle of action or thought M19.