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Glite Dictionary
to carry to term

to carry to term

13 4.4
To continue a pregnancy until the baby is fully developed and ready to be born
  • phrasal verb
  • Specialized
: llevar a término
  • A pregnant woman did one of three things: she carried the baby to term, she miscarried, or she aborted.
  • carry a pregnancy to term
  • carry a child to term
  • decision to carry to term

The doctors advise her that she shouldn't carry it to term, but that they can't do anything.

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Examples

  • Her parents compelled her to have an abortion, despite a strong desire to carry the baby to term.

    Academic text (2006)

  • If other mothers want to hope for miracles or carry to term, my friend has nothing against that.

    Blog text (4)

  • And this is for the woman if she does not want to carry the baby to full term.

    The Truth Will Out (2020)

  • I knew that it was gonna be difficult for me to even get pregnant, let alone carry a baby to term.

    To the New Girl (2020)

  • After the accident, she told us the baby was dead, but that she was going to carry it to term anyway.

    Grace (2009)

  • No woman should be expected to carry any pregnancy to term against her will.

    Blog text (13)

  • If I were in this situation, I would absolutely carry the pregnancy to term.

    Blog text (13)

  • Some women choose to carry to term regardless; others decided they'd rather not.

    Blog text (11)

  • And you're committed to carrying this pregnancy to term?

    Unplanned (2019)

  • After much consideration, she decided to carry her pregnancy to term despite the challenges.

Antonyms

to terminate
147 4.6

To make something stop or finish

to miscarry
  • Specialized
18 6.8

To lose a pregnancy before the baby can live outside the mother's body

How Advanced

to labor
  • US
3 4.9
to carry to term
  • Specialized
13 4.4
expectant
12 3.8
to carry
290 4.4
pregnant
∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

carry to term infinitive
carried to term past
carried to term past participle
carrying to term present participle
carries to term third person singular

Morphology

carry + to + term

The meaning 'to continue a pregnancy until full development' is directly derivable from 'carry' (be pregnant) + 'to' (indicating up to) + 'term' (a set period/gestation). This is a literal, compositional combination (carry until the term) and parallels phrasing in many languages, so a B1 learner who knows the parts would likely infer the meaning.

Etymology

Carry to term comes from the simple image of a person who carries a baby until it reaches its term, the normal time for birth. So, it means 'to continue a pregnancy until the baby is ready to be born'.