birth

Study(23)

/bɜːθ/

noun 6verb 2adj 1

Collocations

ADJ.

against, great, left, many, new, new

She gave birth to twins against all the doctors' predictions.

VERB + BIRTH

date, gave, get, give, given, marry, pounds, work

She gave birth to twins last month, and they're both healthy and doing well.

BIRTH + NOUN

baby, children, daughter, death, empire, father, men, policy

My daughter's birth was the most joyful day of my entire life.

PREP.

about, after, in, on

The doctor asked questions about the birth to make sure everything went smoothly.

Definitions

noun

The process of childbearing; the beginning of life; the emergence of a human baby or other viviparous animal offspring from the mother's body into the environment.

An instance of childbirth.

Intersex babies account for roughly one per cent of all births.

In Greece a child was given its name on the seventh or tenth day after birth.

A beginning or start; a point of origin.

the birth of an empire

The circumstances of one's background, ancestry, or upbringing.

He was of noble birth, but fortune had not favored him.

without reference to birth, but solely for their qualifications

That which is born.

That poets are far rarer births than kings.

Others hatch their eggs and tend the birth till it is able to shift for itself.

adj

A familial relationship established by childbirth.

Her birth father left when she was a baby; she was raised by her mother and stepfather.

verb

To bear or give birth to (a child).

I don't know nothin' 'bout birthin' babies!

Kelly: Is it true we have a pod containing a baby krogan down in the cargo hold? Shepard: Not a baby. He's a full-grown super soldier ready for combat. Kelly: Please be careful if you decide to... err... birth him? His personality is completely unknown.

To produce, give rise to.

Biological evolution created a human mind that enabled cultural evolution, which now outpaces and outclasses the force that birthed it.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

noun — the event of being born

noun — the process of giving birth

parturition
birthing

noun — the kinship relation of an offspring to the parents

parentage

verb — cause to be born

Antonyms

Idioms & Phrases

give birth

To release live offspring from the body into the environment.

It was clear that she was about to give birth.

accident of birth

A fact, situation, or personal characteristic, which may be desirable or undesirable, resulting from the circumstances into which a person was born, and which is therefore entirely beyond their control.

[H]e said to himself that he was a very good-looking man, and could have adorned a much higher sphere in life than that in which the accident of birth had placed him.

Example Bank

Intersex babies account for roughly one per cent of all births.

Wiktionary

In Greece a child was given its name on the seventh or tenth day after birth.

Wiktionary

the birth of an empire

Wiktionary

Her birth father left when she was a baby; she was raised by her mother and stepfather.

Wiktionary

I don't know nothin' 'bout birthin' babies!

Wiktionary

Usage Notes

i Register

In some senses, birth is marked as figuratively, obsolete. Watch for register when choosing this word.

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