cohere

present singular third person coheres · participle present cohering · participle past cohered · past cohered · alternative rare cohære

1. intransitiveTo stick together physically, by adhesion.

   Separate molecules will cohere because of electromagnetic force.

   1 more example

   Nothing coheres the way you expect. Substances float around each other until you crush them all with a blender.

   2018 July 19, Zoe Williams, “Can ditching meat and dairy open up new taste sensations? My week as a foodie vegan”, in The Guardian

2. figurativelyintransitiveTo be consistent as part of a group, or by common purpose.

   Members of the party would cohere in the message they were sending.

   2 more examples

   That dream of beautiful Paris was not likely to cohere into substance in the presence of this misfortune.

   1878 January–December, Thomas Hardy, The Return of the Native […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], published 1878, →OCLC

   A system that degrades but coheres is a far better place to live than a system that completely collapses.

   2024 April 15, Charles Hugh Smith, Financial Forecast 2025-2032: Please Don't Be Naive

3. figurativelytransitiveTo be consistent as part of a group, or by common purpose.

   This division suggests that Khamenei is not playing his usual role of cohering the regime during a crisis.

   2022 October 2, Nicholas Carl, Kitaneh Fitzpatrick, Zachary Coles, and Frederick W. Kagan, “Iran Crisis Update, October 2”, in Iran Project, Institute for the Study of War