Skip to main content
to birth

to birth

26 2.3
To cause a baby or young animal to be born
  • verb
  • /bɜrθ/
translation icon : parir
  • The woman had birthed her baby and was nursing it, while her prior child watched.
  • birth a child

There was no one non human that gave birth to a human didn't work like that.

Autoplay Next

Examples

  • Have you birthed many babies?

  • I remember that women have always birthed with women: wise women, gentle women, a cradling community of women.

    Fiction book (1996)
  • Women carry the baby, they birth the baby, they feed the baby.

  • When finally she began birthing live babies again, Father had come to view children differently.

    Fiction book (2002)
  • Tanya birthed her twins at home.

  • Thereafter, she lived among the elephants and birthed many calves, all of them just as intelligent as humans.

    Academic text (2018)
  • In the quiet of the barn, the farmer watched as his cow birthed a healthy calf.

  • After many hours of labor, she finally birthed her first child with the help of a midwife.

  • The cat birthed three tiny kittens under the porch this morning.

Synonyms

to bear
vsto birth
6.2

To give birth to a child or produce fruit

focuses only on causing animals or young to enter the world
to have
vsto birth
1.7

To give birth to a baby or young animal

is the general act of causing young to come into the world
to give birth
vsto birth
252 1.4

To have a baby or young animal from your body

is the general act of causing a baby or young to come into the world
to deliver
vsto birth
  • Specialized
163 3.9

To help a woman give birth

refers to causing the baby rather than helping someone else
giving birth
vsto birth
53 1.9

To have a baby when it comes out of the mother's body

is the verb that means causing young to enter the world
to litter
vsto birth
5 7.5

To give birth to a group of baby animals at once

is more general and not limited to multiple young in one event
to bring forth
vsto birth
  • Literature
5 8.1

To give birth to a child or young animal

is the neutral everyday verb for causing young to come

Phrasal Verbs

252 1.4

To have a baby or young animal from your body

35 3.0

To cause a new idea or movement to begin

Compounds

139 2.5

Methods people use to prevent pregnancy and plan when to have children

An official paper that shows a person's name, date, and place when they were born

53 1.9

To have a baby when it comes out of the mother's body

50 3.6

A woman who has a baby but is not the child's legal or social mother

birth control pill
  • Specialized
33 2.7

A small medicine tablet with hormones a woman takes to prevent pregnancy

birth defect
  • Specialized
30 3.2

A health problem a baby has when they are born

birth rate
  • Specialized
17 2.5

Number of live births per 1,000 people in a year

15 3.5

A baby born at home instead of in a hospital

A medical procedure late in pregnancy where the unborn baby is partly delivered and then removed

live birth
  • Specialized
9 3.5

A baby born showing any sign of life

birth canal
  • Specialized
7 3.5

A passage from a mother's womb through the vagina that a baby passes during childbirth

The town, city or country where someone is born

5 8.8

Becoming pregnant when a woman has not had sex

A situation you are born into, like your family or country, that affects your life and you cannot change

Giving birth to a baby through the vagina rather than by surgery

birth control device
  • Specialized
1 3.2

Something that stops a person from becoming pregnant

breech birth
  • Specialized
1 6.7

A birth when a baby comes out feet or bottom first instead of head first

1 5.2

Strong repeated pains a woman feels when she is having a baby

low-birth-weight baby
  • Specialized
1 3.9

A baby born weighing less than 5.5 pounds or 2,500 grams

Actions to limit the number of children people have, often using birth control

1 3.9

A baby born weighing less than 5.5 pounds or 2,500 grams

Virgin Birth
  • Specialized
1 7.5

The belief that Jesus was born to Mary without a human father by the Holy Spirit

birth trauma
  • Specialized
5.8

An injury to a newborn during birth

birth trauma
  • Specialized
7.3

Emotional harm some people think a baby gets during birth that may affect later life

birth trauma
  • Specialized
5.8

Strong emotional distress a parent has during a difficult childbirth or after it, such as anxiety and bad memories

A person who works to make birth control and planning for children more accepted

A person who works to make birth control and family planning easier to get

A way to avoid pregnancy by tracking a woman's periods and avoiding sex on days when she can get pregnant

active birth
  • Specialized
3.6

Childbirth in which the mother moves and changes position to help labor

A way to have a baby with little medical equipment, often at home or in a birth center

A child born after one or both parents die

Virgin Birth
  • Specialized
7.5

A type of reproduction where an animal grows from an egg that has not been fertilized

Surface Forms

birth infinitive
birthed past
birthed past participle
birthing present participle
births third person singular

Etymology

Birth as a verb means to give life to a baby and is tied to the old verb bear, which means 'to carry' or 'to bring into the world'. That's why to birth a child is to cause it to be born.