baby fever
1
6.8
- noun
- Informal
:
fiebre de bebé
- After seeing all the newborns at the baby shower, I suddenly felt a strong desire for a child; I think I have baby fever.
- got baby fever
No, I go like I'm not really having baby fever at this moment.
- No, I go like I'm not really having baby fever at this moment.
Examples
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I have serious baby fever... and no babies at all!
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I can cross that one off my list because I have come to realize that my baby fever truly stems from a desire to expand our family—to have another child.
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Anyway, I have baby fever now, I think.
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On whether she has baby fever yet
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Do you have baby fever?
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You're getting baby fever here.
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I have baby fever for some supremely selfish reasons.
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I didn't get baby fever or anything, just a new understanding of how much of a blessing a child can be.
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Now that her little one is here and he is so incredibly beautiful and she is so incredibly happy, I find my baby fever getting stronger...
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So yeah, we have 3 and we couldn't be happier, and if truth be told, I have baby fever like crazy right now and wouldn't mind another, but we have to think of the quality of life for our 3 babies we have now.
Blog text (27)
Synonyms
A strong, sudden wish to hold and care for babies
A strong wish to sit on eggs to hatch them or to have babies
Antonyms
How Strong
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning rests on a figurative use of 'fever' (intense desire or craze) combined with 'baby'; if a learner knows 'fever' only as an illness they likely won't infer 'a strong desire to have a baby'. Because the metaphorical extension is predictable once the non-literal sense of 'fever' is known but not fully transparent to beginners, this is best classed as semi-transparent.
Etymology
Baby fever uses the picture of baby and fever: a fever is a sudden high temperature that makes you feel restless and urgent. When people see or hold a baby they can get a quick, strong wish for a child, so the phrase means 'a strong, sudden desire to have a baby'.