Definition of "sexual intercourse" [sexual intercourse]

• Coitus between humans. (noun)
• Sexual union between humans involving genital contact other than vaginal penetration by the penis. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "The Aruntas of Australia, I believe, when discovered by Europeans, had not yet observed the connection between sexual intercourse and birth."
• "It had been a good day for payments; he had also earned two very large and fine crayfish, a pot of whitebait, a basil plant, and an offer of sexual intercourse (to be redeemed at his convenience)."
• "Recent polls reveal that a large number of marriages qualify as low-sex marriages in which couples engage in sexual intercourse less than once a week."