From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishprostitutepros‧ti‧tute1 /ˈprɒstɪtjuːt $ ˈprɑːstɪtuːt/ noun [countable] BOSYsomeone, especially a woman, who earns money by having sex with people
Examples from the Corpus
prostitute• She didn't look like a prostitute. She wasn't even wearing any make-up.• Female prostitutes also can infect their unborn babies.• Male prostitutes lined the street looking for customers.• Twelve percent of women's Oscars have gone to actresses playing prostitutes, with or without hearts of gold.• In the evenings the prostitutes would like the streets, calling out to passing men.prostituteprostitute2 verb 1 [transitive] if someone prostitutes a skill, ability, important principle etc, they use it in a way that does not show its true value, usually to earn money Friends from the theater criticized him for prostituting his talent in the movies.2 → prostitute yourself→ See Verb tableExamples from the Corpus
prostitute• Friends from the theater criticized him for prostituting his talent in movies.• He does not prostitute his talents.• Yes, I have prostituted myself for the sake of art.• They'd imagine me prostituting myself, or on the hard stuff.• But health policy is often prostituted to the demands of industry and commerce.Origin prostitute2 (1500-1600) Latin past participle of prostituere “to show publicly, offer for sale” 