1
2
: one associated with or related to another : counterpart
Rural children deserve as good an education as their city cousins get.—
Benjamin Fine
Benjamin Fine3
—used as a title by a sovereign in addressing a nobleman
4
: a member of a group regarded as ethnically or culturally related
our English cousins
Examples of cousin in a Sentence
Everyone came to the wedding, including a distant cousin no one had heard from in years.
The cricket is a cousin of the grasshopper.
hurricanes and their cousins, typhoons
Recent Examples on the Web
Their fathers did, their uncles, their cousins, their friends, their neighbors, everybody.
—Victoria Gomelsky, Robb Report, 26 Feb. 2025
Our group had grown to 10 — members of the Kohlberg family, friends, cousins, a wine executive or two.
—Danielle Pergament Nick Ballón, New York Times, 26 Feb. 2025
Culkin has swept the precursors for his hilarious and moving role as a troubled man visiting Poland, the land of his ancestors, with his cousin (Eisenberg).
—Anne Thompson, IndieWire, 26 Feb. 2025
Or my dad’s cousin Andrew who lives on the Missouri side of Kansas City.
—Madeline Goetz, The New Yorker, 25 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for cousin
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Victoria Gomelsky, Robb Report, 26 Feb. 2025
Our group had grown to 10 — members of the Kohlberg family, friends, cousins, a wine executive or two.
—Danielle Pergament Nick Ballón, New York Times, 26 Feb. 2025
Culkin has swept the precursors for his hilarious and moving role as a troubled man visiting Poland, the land of his ancestors, with his cousin (Eisenberg).
—Anne Thompson, IndieWire, 26 Feb. 2025
Or my dad’s cousin Andrew who lives on the Missouri side of Kansas City.
—Madeline Goetz, The New Yorker, 25 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for cousin
Articles Related to cousin
Cite this Entry
“Cousin.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cousin. Accessed 3 Mar. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
cousin
noun
cous·in
ˈkəz-ᵊn 
1
a
: a child of one's uncle or aunt
b
: a relative descended from a common ancestor
2
: a member of a group regarded as ethnically or culturally related
our English cousins
Biographical Definition
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