date-rape

1 of 2

verb

date-raped; date-raping; date-rapes

transitive verb

: to commit date rape on
date rapist noun

date rape

2 of 2

noun

: rape committed by the victim's date
broadly : acquaintance rape

Examples of date-rape in a Sentence

Noun He was accused of date rape.
Recent Examples on the Web
Verb
The program was happy to craft instruction to produce a World War I–era chemical weapon and a common date-rape drug. Markus Anderljung and Paul Scharre, Foreign Affairs, 14 Aug. 2023 Jonathan Vigliotti: Is GHB, is the date-rape drug something these women would have taken knowingly? Jonathan Vigliotti, CBS News, 15 Apr. 2023 The group allegedly found drunk victims in bars and nightclubs, chatted them up and offered them a dangerous date-rape-style drug cocktail between Sept. 19, 2021, and Aug. 28, 2022. Michael Ruiz, Fox News, 4 Apr. 2023
Noun
Itō is also forced to pay Yamaguchi 550,000 yen for accusing him of dosing her with a date rape drug in her book sans evidence. Marlow Stern, Rolling Stone, 25 Jan. 2024 A week after Christie disappeared, Garcia searched online for information about how authorities test for date rape drugs. Erin Moriarty, CBS News, 30 Dec. 2023 However, Rohypnol is most notorious as a date rape drug. Tracee Cornforth, Verywell Health, 1 Dec. 2023 Last weekend, The Department of Public Safety began investigating an allegation that a lobbyist had used a date rape drug on a legislative staffer during a meeting downtown. James Barragán, Dallas News, 29 Apr. 2021 The teen drama tackled issues like teenage pregnancy, alcoholism, drug abuse, eating disorders, suicide and date rape. Kelly Martinez, Peoplemag, 17 July 2023 Until, that is, Tess is the victim of a shockingly brutal date rape by another brilliant young colleague—this one the son of a rich and powerful London lawyer. Trish Deitch, Variety, 23 Apr. 2023 Experts say common date rape drugs, like GHB, Rohypnol, and ketamine, are hard to detect, so allegations of drink spiking are almost impossible to prove. Globe Staff, BostonGlobe.com, 27 June 2022 Some of the incidents involved date rape drugs and ocurred at major resorts and hotels. Kathleen Wong, USA TODAY, 6 June 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'date-rape.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

Verb

1984, in the meaning defined above

Noun

1975, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of date-rape was in 1975

Dictionary Entries Near date-rape

date plum

date-rape

date rape

Cite this Entry

“Date-rape.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/date-rape. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

date rape

noun
: rape committed by the victim's date

Medical Definition

date rape

noun
: rape committed by the victim's date
broadly : acquaintance rape

Legal Definition

date rape

noun
: rape committed by the victim's date
broadly : acquaintance rape
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