Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The practice of engaging in sex acts in exchange for money.
  • noun The criminal offense of engaging in or offering to engage in sex in exchange for money.
  • noun The practice of offering oneself or using one's talents for an unworthy purpose, especially for personal gain.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The act or practice of prostituting, or offering the body to indiscriminate sexual intercourse for hire.
  • noun The act of offering or devoting to a base or infamous use: as, the prostitution of talents or abilities.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun The act or practice of prostituting or offering the body to an indiscriminate intercourse with men; common lewdness of a woman.
  • noun The act of setting one's self to sale, or of devoting to infamous purposes what is in one's power

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Engaging in sexual activity with another person in exchange for compensation, such as money or other valuable goods.
  • noun by extension Debasement for unworthy profit or motives.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun offering sexual intercourse for pay

Etymologies

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Examples

  • If prostitution is a form of rape, as radical feminists have asserted, then how can anybody in prostitution have a wonderful experience with it?

    Thoughts on rescues, rescuers and realities « Bound, Not Gagged 2009

  • A rather typical story about the “rise” of prostitution (this time, in Hawaii) quotes without comment the following two statistics: Here are a few more statistics on prostitution from the FBI: The FBI states the average age of entry into prostitution is 14-years-old.

    2008 November 16 « Bound, Not Gagged 2008

  • The term prostitution itself is controversial -- most groups working with persons who sell or trade sex for money use the terms "sex work" and "sex worker," rather than

    Jodi Jacobson: DOJ Drops Appeal of Injunction Against "Prostitution Pledge" 2009

  • If you find the term prostitution too upsetting of a term to see used for something nice guys and their decent, upstanding wives do, perhaps you would prefer “transactional sex?”

    International Marriage Broker Act passes! Plus, Bush admin refuses to release rules to help battered immigrant women. 2005

  • They brought the punishment of stoning to death for what they called prostitution adultery.

    CNN Transcript Jun 23, 2009 2009

  • They brought the punishment of stoning to death for what they called prostitution adultery.

    CNN Transcript Jun 23, 2009 2009

  • Marie, as we have seen, was only seventeen, unformed and wild, full of youthful passion and social despair, on the verge of what we call prostitution; reckless, hopeless, with a deep touch of sullenness and hatred.

    An Anarchist Woman Hutchins Hapgood 1906

  • JEFFERSON COUNTY - KFDM News has obtained documents and information from investigators who are probing what they call a prostitution operation in which they say a man employed two women who targeted workers and set up meetings at Jefferson County motels and other locations.

    KFDM.com Breaking News : News Lindsey Kovacevich 2010

  • Although it is conventional to refer to 'the world's oldest profession,' the term prostitution has never described a clearly defined activity and was constructed by particular social actors at a specific time for specific reasons. [i] Within feminism, the phenomenon called prostitution is the centre of an intransigent debate about its meanings, one aspect of the conflict revolving around what words should be used to describe women who offer sexual services for sale: prostitute, sex worker, prostituted woman, victim of sexual exploitation.

    Bitch | Lab 2008

  • This kind of prostitution is legal and no less lucrative than the standard, unlawful variety ....

    On What Some Flyfishermen Really Think of Dick Cheney 2009

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