Masturbate
//ˈmæ.stə.beɪt// verb, slang
verb, slang ·Common ·High school level
Definitions
Verb
- 1 To stimulate oneself sexually, especially by use of one’s hand or a sex toy made for this purpose, often to the point of ejaculation or orgasm. intransitive
"I'm looking for some hot videos to masturbate to."
- 2 get sexual gratification through self-stimulation wordnet
- 3 To stimulate someone else sexually without penetration of the penis. colloquial, transitive
"Mrs Intiasar’s maids often masturbated her in the morning. It wasn’t something she discussed with anybody, least of all the maids. In fact, she hardly thought about it."
- 4 stimulate sexually wordnet
- 5 To stimulate or please oneself by means of anything, not necessarily sexual, that does not get them anywhere; something that wastes their time; something that does not help others or achieve any important goal. derogatory, informal
Example
More examples"Doing math is the only socially acceptable way to masturbate in public."
Etymology
A back-formation from masturbation, or else from Latin masturbātus (see -ate), past participle of masturbor. Further derivation of the Latin verb is uncertain; see masturbor for more.
Related phrases
More for "masturbate"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.