1. the capacity of various parts to function together. This can be applied to body parts (e.g., the two legs while walking or the eyes and hands while drawing), to joints (e.g., the motion at the elbow and shoulder as the arm is swung back and forth), and to the muscles producing force at a joint (see antagonistic muscles).

2. in linguistics, the linking of two or more clauses of equal status by means of a coordinating conjunction (e.g., and or but), as in The boy ate the cake, and the girl drank the milk. This contrasts with subordination, in which one of the clauses is dependent on the other for its meaning, as in The boy ate the cake that the girl liked. See complex sentence. —coordinate vb.