1
Core action
Work jointly with others toward a shared purpose or result.
Example
The laboratories collaborated on a shared database.
collaborate
/kəˈlæbəreɪt/ · kuh-LAB-uh-raytverb
Work jointly with others toward a shared purpose or result.
Use collaborate to express this relationship precisely: work jointly with others toward a shared purpose or result.
What collaborate Really Means
The word becomes easier to use when its closely related senses are separated and compared.
2
Common construction
Use this expression in its normal grammatical frame so the relationship between the surrounding ideas remains explicit.
Example
Artists and engineers collaborated to design the installation.
3
Reasoning effect
It tells the reader how to interpret the timing, scope, evidence, contrast, condition, or consequence in the statement.
Example
The teams compete for funding but collaborate on safety standards.
Use collaborate Naturally
Notice how the surrounding noun or clause reveals the exact shade of meaning.
The laboratories collaborated on a shared database.
Artists and engineers collaborated to design the installation.
The teams compete for funding but collaborate on safety standards.
Precision Matters
Collaborate overlaps with several common words, but each carries a different emphasis.
collaborate
vs.Means work jointly with others toward a shared purpose or result.
collaboration
Means the act of working jointly with other people or groups.
collaborate
vs.Means work jointly with others toward a shared purpose or result.
in conjunction with
Means together with another factor, method, or action as part of a combined process.
collaborate
vs.Means work jointly with others toward a shared purpose or result.
camaraderie
Means mutual trust, friendship, and goodwill among people who spend time or work together.
collaborate
vs.Means work jointly with others toward a shared purpose or result.
reconcile
Means restore agreement or make apparently conflicting things compatible.
Test collaborate in Context
They will work together toward one shared result.
1
Researchers from four countries will ___ to map the entire river basin.