cohere

[ koh-heer ]

verb (used without object)

, co·hered, co·her·ing.

1. to stick together; be united; hold fast, as parts of the same mass:

   The particles of wet flour cohered to form a paste.

2. Physics. (of two or more similar substances) to be united within a body by the action of molecular forces.
3. to be naturally or logically connected:

   Without sound reasoning no argument will cohere.

   Synonyms: follow

4. to agree; be congruous:

   Her account of the incident cohered with his.

cohere

/ kəʊˈhɪə /

verb

1. to hold or stick firmly together
2. to be connected logically; be consistent
3. physics to be held together by the action of molecular forces

Word History and Origins

Origin of cohere¹

First recorded in 1590–1600; from Latin cohaerēre, equivalent to co- co- + haerēre “to stick, cling”

Word History and Origins

Origin of cohere¹

C16: from Latin cohaerēre from co- together + haerēre to cling, adhere

Synonym Study

See stick ².

Example Sentences

“Fight Night” flirts with a variety of styles — blaxploitation, police procedural, social drama, the buddy-cop movie — which are successful on their own terms but don’t easily cohere.

From Los Angeles Times

And it has discussed licensing complementary A.I. models that power chatbots from several companies, including Google, Cohere and OpenAI.

From New York Times

“By forcing plaintiffs to adopt gender markers that do not cohere to their own identities, the rule imposes a dignitary harm — one they are forced to carry around with them and relive every time they use their identification,” the lawsuit reads.

From Seattle Times

The three venues — the Mark Taper Forum and the Ahmanson Theatre at the Music Center in downtown Los Angeles and the Kirk Douglas Theatre in Culver City — each with its distinctive profile and following, don’t easily cohere in the best of times, and this period is one of the most difficult in the company’s history.

From Los Angeles Times

“If you just shouted one word in gibberish, that would probably be fine. If you shouted a phrase of two words, OK. But if you tried to do a whole sentence structure in gibberish, it would fall apart very quickly. If somebody needed to respond or repeat information, it won’t cohere.”

From New York Times