Meaning & use
condom
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountable
A thin rubber or plastic covering worn on the penis during sex to prevent pregnancy and infection.
Grammar: Countable: a condom, two condoms; also used without an article in general statements.
Patterns
- use a condom
- wear a condom
- a packet of condoms
Health workers handed out free condoms at the clinic.
Using a condom correctly greatly reduces the risk of infection.
The leaflet explains how to put on a condom.
nouncountablemedical
A similar covering for the penis used to collect semen, for example in fertility treatment.
Grammar: Countable, and often used in the plural in medical contexts: sterile condoms.
Patterns
- a sterile condom
- collect a sample in a condom
The sample was collected in a sterile condom.
The clinic supplies special condoms for the procedure.
Word forms
| plural | condoms |
|---|
Common combinations
- use a condom
- Doctors advise people to use a condom with a new partner.
- wear a condom
- He always wears a condom to protect against infection.
- a packet of condoms
- She bought a packet of condoms at the pharmacy.
- free condoms
- The student union provides free condoms.
- a condom machine
- There is a condom machine in the restroom.
Synonyms and how they differ
- rubber
- Rubber is informal American slang for a condom; condom is the neutral, standard word suitable for medical or public-health writing.
- sheath
- Sheath is an old-fashioned or literary word for a condom, rarely used in everyday speech today.
- prophylactic
- Prophylactic is a formal medical term for a device that prevents disease and can mean a condom, but it is mostly technical.
Word family
- condomless adjective
- Without a condom, as in 'condomless sex'; used mainly in medical or public-health texts.
Commonly confused: condom or condominium? condom or condone?
condom vs condominium
A condominium (often shortened to condo) is an apartment that someone owns; the similar sound sometimes causes confusion.
condom vs condone
Condone means to accept or forgive bad behavior; it sounds like condom but has a completely different meaning.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'condom' correctly?
Choose one answer.
Condom is a countable noun for the protective covering, so 'handed out free condoms' fits. The other options wrongly use it as a verb or confuse it with 'condone' and 'carton'.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “condom”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.