rape 1 of 2

1
as in violation
the act of forcing a person to engage in sexual activity and especially intercourse an international law defining rape as a war crime

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2
as in kidnaping
the unlawful or forcible carrying away of a person or animal the legend of the rape of the Sabine women by the ancient Romans was frequently depicted in classical art

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rape

2 of 2

verb

as in to violate
to engage in sexual activity and especially intercourse with a person unwilling or unable to give consent the defendant accused of raping the victim

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of rape
Noun
Each of the brothers has separately been accused by at least 10 women of forcible rape between 2002 or 2003 and 2021, the letter continues. Mollie Markowitz, Fox News, 18 Jan. 2025 Wallace also confessed to an 11th murder, the 1990 rape and strangulation of 18-year-old Tashanda Bethea in Barnwell. Michael Gordon, Charlotte Observer, 17 Jan. 2025 When a woman accuses him of rape, Rose is asked to testify in the investigation against him. Zac Ntim, Deadline, 16 Jan. 2025 Prosecutors wrote in a detention letter that law enforcement agents reported speaking to more than 40 women who described being victims of at least one of the brothers, and each of the brothers have been accused of forcible rape by at least 10 women. Michael Gfoeller and David H. Rundell, Newsweek, 16 Jan. 2025 And false convictions dropped; as DNA testing became more widespread, fewer Black men were wrongfully convicted of the rape of white women than in prior decades, per one report. Cindi Leive, New York Times, 14 Jan. 2025 Orlok is a monster, and this film is a story of an underage girl who was a victim of rape. Matt Zoller Seitz, Vulture, 14 Jan. 2025 But some of these senators have also declined to speak face to face and confidentially with such critics, including the woman who accused Hegseth of rape. Jane Mayer, The New Yorker, 14 Jan. 2025 Maynor Francisco Hernandez-Rodas, 38, a citizen of Guatemala, according to the Suffolk District Attorney’s office, faces four counts of aggravated rape of a child, three counts of indecent assault and battery on a child under 14 and a count of enticing a child under 16. Flint McColgan, Boston Herald, 9 Jan. 2025
Verb
In December, instead of fighting, ABC News opted to quickly settle a defamation lawsuit brought by Trump over anchor George Stephanopoulos’ on-air assertion that the president-elect had been found civilly liable for raping writer E. Jean Carroll. Scott Roxborough, The Hollywood Reporter, 29 Jan. 2025 On Thursday afternoon, the 38-year-old Miami resident walked into the Miami Beach Police Department and told detectives that Oren Alexander raped her at the Versace mansion in 2014. Ana Claudia Chacin and, Miami Herald, 28 Jan. 2025 Wood again alleges she was raped by an unnamed significant other during a relationship. Jennifer Zhan, Vulture, 24 Jan. 2025 Dana Ireland, a 23-year-old white woman, was biking in a remote area of the Big Island when she was raped and murdered. Simon J. Levien, New York Times, 23 Jan. 2025 October 27, 2024: Woman accuses Chris Brown of raping her on Diddy's yacht In the documentary Chris Brown: A History of Violence, an anonymous woman, who went by the name Jane Doe, claimed that the singer raped her in 2020. Alex Heigl, People.com, 23 Jan. 2025 Another accuser, Thalia Graves, claims that Combs violently raped her in the summer of 2001 and threatened her into silence. Rosemary Feitelberg, WWD, 23 Jan. 2025 Graves filed a federal lawsuit in New York claiming she was raped by Combs and his former bodyguard in 2001, an allegation later disputed by the bodyguard, Joseph Sherman, in a November countersuit. Mary Whitfill Roeloffs, Forbes, 22 Jan. 2025 Investigators later learned of a similar case in 2000, when a man raped a 19-year-old Penn State student at knifepoint at a Happy Valley, Pennsylvania, golf course, according to the Michigan sheriff and Centre Daily Times reporting. Mike Stunson, Kansas City Star, 16 Jan. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for rape
Noun
  • Weidner is trying to get several South Florida cities, including Davie and Boca Raton, to join in, calling homes subject to foreclosure because of aggressive enforcement of code violations a potential goldmine of untapped revenue.
    Ben Wieder, Miami Herald, 26 Jan. 2025
  • The first shot was off from Solo Ball, who finished with a game-high 20 points on 6-for-17 shooting, and the second didn’t leave Jayden Ross’ hand in time, a shot clock violation with five seconds left that allowed the Musketeers to seal the game at the free throw line.
    Joe Arruda, Hartford Courant, 26 Jan. 2025
Verb
  • The Project Rise investors fired off a legal letter in October 2024 claiming that Paramount’s special committee violated its fiduciary duty to shareholders by neglecting to consider the group’s previous $8.5 billion bid for the company.
    Tatiana Siegel, Variety, 24 Jan. 2025
  • In one instance, the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that the Department of Homeland Security's 2017 decision to rescind the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program violated that law, the Administrative Procedure Act.
    Melissa Quinn, CBS News, 24 Jan. 2025
Noun
  • Beijing has also softened its regulatory assault on Chinese technology companies and the property sector.
    Jacky Wong, WSJ, 6 Feb. 2023
  • Zelenskyy has warned for weeks that Moscow aims to step up its assault after about two months of virtual stalemate along the front line that stretches across the south and east.
    Reuters, NBC News, 31 Jan. 2023
Noun
  • Unfortunately for Reed, Harris's orders required him to betray his commanding officer by deliberately obstructing an investigation into the Klingons' abduction of chief medical officer Dr Phlox.
    Richard Edwards, Space.com, 24 Jan. 2025
  • How, if China doesn’t hold significant clout with traffickers, did officials manage to negotiate Wang’s release just three days after his abduction on Jan. 3?
    Charlie Campbell, TIME, 21 Jan. 2025
Verb
  • With that ban set to expire at the end of January, supervisors were forced to make a decision on the recurring problem.
    Jake Goodrick, Sacramento Bee, 30 Jan. 2025
  • Spidey zips, leaps and flips through traffic until his web-shooters run out, forcing him to land on the ground.
    Thomas G. Moukawsher, Newsweek, 30 Jan. 2025

Thesaurus Entries Near rape

Cite this Entry

“Rape.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/rape. Accessed 2 Feb. 2025.

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