Skip to main content
rhythm method

rhythm method

1 5.6
A way to avoid pregnancy by not having sex during a woman's most fertile days
  • noun
  • /ˈrɪðəm ˈmɛθəd/
  • NSFW
translation icon : método del ritmo
  • Similarly, those who limited partners to one or a few appeared to put greater reliance on the rhythm method.
  • rhythm method of birth control

Examples

  • For five years, my first wife and I practiced the rhythm method of birth control.

    Fiction book (1992)
  • Instead, he issued an encyclical restating that only a natural "rhythm" method was morally permissible and in harmony with human reason.

    Academic text (2014)
  • - Oh, I prefer the rhythm method.

  • She went to her parish priest, Father Mac, who instructed her in the rhythm method.

    Fiction book (2001)
  • They use the pull-out rhythm method of birth control since they both considered sex with condoms no better than not doing it at all.

    Fiction book (2000)
  • As far as Mary's parents had been concerned, the rhythm method was the only acceptable form of birth control. Mary thought it was a miracle that she only had three siblings instead of a dozen.

    Fiction book (2002)
  • The only methods acceptable are abstinence or the rhythm method (which Bill calls "Vatican roulette").

    Academic text (2009)
  • To please her boyfriend, she used contraceptives irregularly in subsequent sexual encounters, switching between condoms, withdrawal, and the rhythm method.

    Academic text (2006)
  • The body's natural secretions of progesterone established "the pre- and post-menstrual 'safe period,'" which allowed Catholics to perform the rhythm method.

    Academic text (2010)
  • For five years, my first wife and I practiced the rhythm method of birth control.

Synonyms

calendar method of birth control
vsrhythm method
  • Specialized
7.2

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

uses individual cycle tracking rather than a fixed fourteen day ovulation assumption
calendar method
vsrhythm method
  • Specialized
5.9

A method of avoiding pregnancy by counting days of the period to find fertile days

relies on tracked cycle dates instead of a simple fixed ovulation calculation

Surface Forms

rhythm method singular

Morphology

rhythm + method

The compound 'rhythm method' is compositionally built from 'rhythm' (a regular pattern) + 'method' (a systematic procedure), so a learner can infer it is a procedure that uses timing/patterns. However, the specific conventional meaning (natural family planning / avoiding sex on fertile days) is domain-specific and not fully predictable from the constituents alone, so prior cultural/medical knowledge or exposure is usually needed.

Etymology

Rhythm method comes from watching the body's regular rhythm, the monthly pattern of a woman's cycle, so couples would count days to find the 'fertile days'. That's why it means a simple way to 'avoid pregnancy' by not having sex on those days.