birthbirth /bɜːθ $ bɜːrθ/ ●●● S2 W2 noun 
Patsy was celebrating last night after giving birth to twins.2[countable, uncountable] the time when a baby comes out of its mother’s body: Congratulations on the birth of your daughter! He only weighed 2 kilos at birth. Henry has been blind from birth. What’s your date of birth? The exact place of birth is not recorded. They believe that the position of the planets at the time of birth determines the fate of the individual. More and more women are choosing to have home births. Smoking in pregnancy has been linked to premature birth. the association between birth weight and blood pressure The drug was found to cause serious birth defects.3[singular] the time when something new starts to existbirth of the birth of a nation The film gave birth to a TV show of the same name.► see thesaurus at beginning4[uncountable] the character, language, social position etc that you have because of the family or country you come from: a woman of noble birthFrench/German etc by birthCOLLOCATIONS– Meaning 2phrasessomebody’s date of birth especially British English, somebody’s birth date especially American English (=the day, month and year you were born)· Please give your name, address, and date of birth.somebody’s place/country of birth· I wanted to find out my father’s place of birth.birth +NOUNbirth weight (=a baby’s weight when it is born)· Many factors may affect a baby’s birth weight.a birth certificate (=an official document showing when and where you were born)the birth rate (=the number of babies born somewhere)· The country’s birth rate has decreased dramatically.a birth defect (=something wrong with a baby when it is born)· About 11% of babies have birth defects.ADJECTIVES/NOUN + birtha premature birth (=when a baby is born before the normal time)· Many babies survive premature births.a multiple birth (=when a woman has two or more babies at the same time)· The chance of a multiple birth is about 1 in 100 for the average woman.a home birth (=when a woman gives birth at home, not in a hospital)· I decided I wanted a home birth for my second child.
WORD ORIGINbirth
Origin:
1200-1300 Old Norse byrthEXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- Congratulations on the birth of your daughter!
- It's quite common now for fathers to be present at the birth of their babies.
- It was a very difficult birth.
- Most birds cannot identify their parents at birth and simply follow the first moving object they see.
- the birth of a nation
- the birth of photography
- There have been three births in our family this year.
- Childless, they were free, not constrained - constraining - links between birth and death.
- In a large sample of adolescents low birth weight was associated with increased prevalence of asthma.
- Low birth weight is another measure of the well-being of infants and children.
- That your children love you back is nearly as miraculous as their birth.
- This causes temporary softening of the ligaments in preparation for the birth.
- Two months later she gave birth to a female child who was born with club feet.
THESAURUS
the first part of something such as a story, event, or period of time: · The beginning of the movie is very violent.· Let’s go back to the beginning.
the beginning of something, or the way something begins: · Tomorrow marks the start of the presidential election campaign.· It was not a good start to the day.· The runners lined up for the start of the race.
formal the beginning of something – used especially in official contexts: · the commencement of the academic year· the commencement of the contract
the point from which something starts to exist: · He wrote a book about the origins of the universe.· The tradition has its origins in medieval times.
the time when something bad begins, such as illness, old age, or cold weather: · the onset of winter· An active lifestyle can delay the onset of many diseases common to aging.
literary the beginning of an important period of time in history: · People have worshipped gods since the dawn of civilization.
the beginning of something important that will change many people’s lives: · the birth of democracy in South Africa· the birth of the environmental movement
Longman Language Activatorwhen a baby is born · Karen's baby was born six weeks early.· All our children were born in the same hospital.
the fact or process of being born: · It was a very difficult birth.· There have been three births in our family this year.birth of: · It's quite common now for fathers to be present at the birth of their babies.at birth (=at the time when someone is born): · Most birds cannot identify their parents at birth and simply follow the first moving object they see.
to be born - use this especially to talk about the time a baby is born: · The baby arrived at five minutes past midnight.· Has your sister's baby arrived yet?
a word meaning to be born - use this especially to talk about how the baby's birth affects its parents' lives: · I was studying to be an accountant, but then the baby came along and I had to give it all up.· By the time her third child came along, Mrs Jones had strong ideas on how children should be brought up.
methods used to prevent a woman becoming pregnant methods that are used to prevent a baby starting to develop inside a woman's body when a man and woman have sex: · Today there are more women using modern contraception than ever before.· For advice on contraception, talk to your doctor or local family planning clinic. methods of contraception: · There are several reliable methods of contraception.
the practice of deliberately controlling the number of babies that are born: · Government attempts to encourage family planning have failed in many parts of the third world.· a reliable method of birth control
to have a baby · Having a baby changes your life completely.· After my wife had the twins, we were struggling financially for a while.· Our dog had six puppies while we were away on vacation.
to have a baby - use this especially to talk about the actual process of doing this: · Zelda was admitted to the hospital at one o'clock, and gave birth two hours later.give birth to a child/daughter etc: · When Pablo was three, his mother gave birth to a daughter.
to have a baby for the first time: · Rachel was looking forward to becoming a mother.become the mother of a son/twins etc: · Nine months later she became the mother of a son, who was named George.
the process of giving birth: · Most women have some kind of pain relief during childbirth.die in childbirth (=die while giving birth): · Samuel's mother died in childbirth, and he was brought up by his aunt.natural childbirth (=without drugs, medical operations etc): · Natural childbirth has become more popular over the last 20 years.
British /labor American the whole process of giving birth, from the time when the baby starts to be pushed out of its mother's body: · When Connie realized that her labor was starting, she quickly phoned both her husband and doctor.in labour: · Sara was in labor for sixteen hours with our first child.go into labour (=begin the process of giving birth): · One of the horses had gone into labour while the farmer was away.
the process of giving birth, especially when the birth is helped by doctors and nurses: · A hospital is usually the best place for a safe delivery.· Meg was recovering from a particularly complicated delivery.
the time when something is first used or discovered the time when an important new idea, method, or product is first used or discovered, especially one that will lead to important changes: · With the arrival of the railroads after the Civil War, more and more people began moving west to California.· The arrival of convenience foods took much of the hard work out of preparing meals.
also the advent of formal the time when an important new system, idea, product, or method begins to exist or be used, causing important changes in society: · The Middle East changed dramatically with the coming of Islam 600 years after Christ.· Before the coming of the railways in the late 1860s these old roads were the only link between towns.· The advent of TV led to major changes in our social and family life.· Women workers tended to lose their jobs with the advent of new technology.
the beginning of something, for example a new political movement, that will become more and more important, and will change the way many people behave or think: · More than anyone else, Elvis Presley was responsible for the birth of rock and roll.· The birth of modern science was to fundamentally change people's attitudes towards religion.
the beginning of an important period of time in history - used especially in literature: · People have worshipped gods since the dawn of civilization.· Ordinary life would never be the same again after the dawn of the Industrial age.· A small group of poets and writers ushered in the dawn of the Romantic era in literature.
to come from a particular country, town etc if you come from or are from a particular place, that is where you were born or where you lived for a long time: · She comes from Japan.· Where are you from?· My wife's parents and my parents come from the same town.
: be a native of Tokyo/London/Wales etc to have been born in and to have spent the early part of your life in that place -- used especially when you are writing about someone's life: · Hughes, who is a native of Belfast, often uses the city as a setting for his novels.· DeParle is a native of Rockwood, Tennessee.
to have been born in a particular country or to be a citizen of that country because your parents come from there, especially when you now live somewhere else: · She's lived in Australia for a long time, but she's Welsh by birth.· They're Russian by birth but they've lived in America for so long that they feel little attachment to their homeland.
if you are of Scottish/Russian etc ancestry , relatives of yours that are now dead came from that country a long time ago: · There are roughly 40 million Americans of Irish ancestry.· Her fine features suggested she was of Arabic or Indian ancestry.
the place you come from the town where you live now, where you were born, or where you spent most of your early life: · I haven't been back to my home town since my mother died.· She hated her home town so much she would never admit where she was from.
the place where someone, especially someone famous, was born: · We visited the birthplace of Lenin in Ulyanovsk.· Muslims are expected to make at least one pilgrimage to Mecca, Muhammad's birthplace.
the place where you were born -- used especially in official documents: · Forms usually ask you your name, address, nationality and place of birth.· She hoped that one day she would return to her place of birth.
the place where you usually live or the place that you come from, especially when that is the place where you feel you belong and where you would most like to live: · It took us about ten years to think of Atlanta as home.· Her home, she said, was in Southern China, but she hadn't been there since she was a child.
WORD SETSaboriginal, adjectiveaboriginal, nounaborigine, nounAfghan, nounAfrican, adjectiveAfrican, nounAfrican American, nounAfrikaner, nounAfro-, prefixAmerican, adjectiveAmerican, nounAmericanize, verbanglicize, verbAnglo-, prefixanglophile, nounAnglo-Saxon, nounAussie, nounAustralian, nounAustrian, nounAustro-, prefixbarbarian, nounBedouin, nounBenelux, nounBengali, nounbirth, nounblack, adjectiveblack, nounBoer, nounBr., brave, nounBrit, nounBritish, adjectiveBritisher, nounBriton, nounCeltic, adjectiveChinese, adjectivecontinental, adjectivecosmopolitan, adjectivecultural, adjectiveDane, nounDanish, adjectiveDutch, adjectiveDutchman, nouneastern, adjectiveEgyptian, adjectiveEgyptian, nounEnglish, adjectiveEnglishman, nounEnglishwoman, nounEskimo, nounEurasian, adjectiveEurasian, nounEuro-, prefixEuropean, nounEuropean, adjectiveFr, Franco-, prefixFrench, nounFrenchman, nounFrenchwoman, nounGallic, adjectiveGerman, nounGermanic, adjectiveGraeco-, prefixGreco-, prefixGreek, adjectiveGreek, noungypsy, nounHebraic, adjectiveHebrew, nounHellene, nounHellenic, adjectivehighland, adjectiveHighlander, nounHispanic, adjective-i, suffixIberian, adjectiveIndian, nounIndian, adjectiveIndo-, prefixinsular, adjectiveinternational, adjectiveinternationally, adverbinternecine, adjectiveIrish, adjectiveIrishman, nounIrishwoman, noun-ish, suffixIslam, nounislander, nounIsraeli, adjectiveIsraeli, nounIsraelite, nounItalian, nounJohn Bull, nounkiwi, nounLatin, nounLatin, adjectiveManx, adjectiveMaori, nounmestizo, nounmetropolitan, adjectiveMexican, adjectiveMexican, nounMoorish, adjectivemother country, nounmotherland, nounnation, nounnational anthem, nounnational costume, nounnational dress, nounnationalism, nounnationalist, nounnationalistic, adjectivenationality, nounnation state, nounnative, adjectivenative, nounNative American, nounnon-white, nounNordic, adjectiveNorse, adjectiveNorseman, nounnortherner, nounoverseas, adverboverseas, adjectivePakistani, nounparentage, nounPersian, adjectivePersian, nounPole, nounPolish, adjectiveRasta, nounRastafarian, nounRastaman, nounRussian, adjectiveRussian, nounSaxon, nounScot, nounScots, adjectiveScotsman, nounScotswoman, nounScottish, adjectiveSherpa, nounSinhalese, nounSino-, prefixsoutherner, nounSoviet, adjectiveSpaniard, nounSpanish, adjectiveSwede, nounSwedish, adjectiveSwiss, adjectiveTeutonic, adjectiveTurk, nounTurkish, adjectivewestern, adjectiveWesterner, nounwesternized, adjectivewhite, nounYiddish, noun
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRY Meaning 2phrases a member of an ancient noble family The Marquis would have to marry a woman of noble blood. The baby’s birth was registered this morning.COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADJECTIVE
especially British English, somebody’s birth date especially American English (=the day, month and year you were born)· Please give your name, address, and date of birth.
· I wanted to find out my father’s place of birth.
birth +NOUN (=a baby’s weight when it is born)· Many factors may affect a baby’s birth weight.
(=an official document showing when and where you were born)
(=the number of babies born somewhere)· The country’s birth rate has decreased dramatically.
(=something wrong with a baby when it is born)· About 11% of babies have birth defects.
ADJECTIVES/NOUN + birth (=when a baby is born before the normal time)· Many babies survive premature births.
(=when a woman has two or more babies at the same time)· The chance of a multiple birth is about 1 in 100 for the average woman.
(=when a woman gives birth at home, not in a hospital)· I decided I wanted a home birth for my second child.
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES· She had the baby at home.· Sue gave birth to a baby boy.
· In order to get a passport, you'll need your birth certificate.
· the cycle of violence between the two countries
(also somebody’s birth date) (=the day and year when someone was born)· What’s your date of birth?
(=one that you are born with)· About 11% of children have birth defects.
a member of an ancient noble family The Marquis would have to marry a woman of noble blood. (=the ones who are biologically related to them)· Only half the children who are adopted wish to discover their birth parents.
formal· I need to know his date of birth, and his place of birth.
· In many developing countries, birth rates are falling.
The baby’s birth was registered this morning.· A woman who had just given birth was being lifted off a stretcher.· This horse has just given birth to a foal. b. This mare has just given birth to a foal.· To think that the selfsame parents could have given birth to the two of us, she says.· What good was this love that she should never have given birth to?· Meg had just given birth to a baby.· The degree of glucose intolerance for any given birth weight was influenced independently by body mass index in adulthood.· She's just given birth to daughter Rosie.
· The high birth rates of the 1950s and 1960s are projected to increase the numbers of young elderly from 2011.· Aid workers say areas that were heavily bombed now have high rates of birth defects, sterility and mental retardation.· Nevertheless, high birth rates ensured that society was far more youthful in its composition than it is today.· Moreover, the high number of births in a family is offset by the high incidence of infant mortality.· The higher number of births from the mid-1950s and through the 1960s inevitably meant more pensioners sixty years on.· According to the theory, pre-industrial populations can be characterized by high levels of birth and death rates, and low growth rates.· But third births increased by almost a quarter, and higher order births by 18 percent.· In all countries, children of high birth order have comparatively poor survival chances.
· In 1976, 69 % of live births were to women in their 20s and 20 % to women in their 30s.· A couple in 1925-29 made do with 2.2 live births.· The number of abortions performed each year was estimated at between 300,000 and 600,000, compared with 550,000 live births.· In 1928, 620,627 live births were recorded, compared with 950,782 in 1920.· Introduction Hypertrophic pyloric stenosis occurs in about 3/1000 live births.· Usually expressed as the ratio of fetal deaths; i.e. the number of fetal deaths per 1,000 live births.· Three live births out of sixteen transfers is 18.8 per cent.· If you are not trying to produce live births, then cattle do have advantages over sheep.
· Barker etal reported that low birth weight was associated with lower adult lung function but not with symptoms of wheeze.· He has an incorrigible fondness for persons of low birth and spends most of the day with them.· Reduced lung function has been associated with low birth weight regardless of whether the child had respiratory complications at birth.· Meanwhile, Augustine formed a liaison with a woman of low birth by whom he had a son.· This fall reflects in particular the low birth rates of the 1920s and 1930s.· These low birth rates were sustained for twenty years.· But no country has yet managed to achieve a low birth rate while infant deaths rates remain high.· Unsurprisingly, families are severely stressed, as evidenced by low birth rates and high death rates.
· We knew there was a chance of a multiple birth but nothing can prepare you for something like that.· While multiple births have increased in recent years because of the success of fertility drugs, sextuplets still are rare.· And it would have shown on the certificate, the time of birth - it's only done for multiple births.· But those clinics that continue to record a high multiple birth rate will find their records investigated.· Store bosses decided to award the bonus to delighted Teresa Elliott and hubby Steve after learning about the multiple birth.
· He had seen her sitting at the high table among the other ladies of noble birth who served the Empress.· This woman of noble birth chose to study philosophy rather than relish in her beauty.· His long fingernails attest that his was not a life of hard physical labour but that he was probably of noble birth.· Its ranks are open to all young men of noble birth regardless of where they live within the Empire.· According to legend, Eurosia was a maiden of noble birth, who was promised to a pagan.· There is nothing surprising in this continuing emphasis on noble birth and high social rank.
· Low birth weight usually indicates premature births that are also often immature births.· They also noticed numerous miscarriages, premature births, and birth defects-including gross malformations-among soldiers' children.· The proportion of premature births was almost three times as high if the interval was less than a year.· And there was no doubt that Kalchu, though younger, had dealt with a great many premature births before this one.· They suffered the heartbreak of losing three children through premature births.· Immature births are often, but not necessarily, premature births.
· If we are truthful we may admit that we find the ideas of the virgin birth or the resurrection incredulous.· In the absence of divine intervention, virgin birth for mammals is not an option.· It can not be proved that the virgin birth did not happen.· There is no knowledge of the idea of the virgin birth in the Church before the Gospels were written.· Again the virgin birth, in view of what we now know of human reproduction, has become highly suspect for people.· The angel's answer is part of the foundation of the teaching about the virgin birth.
NOUN· On my birth certificate it states that I was born in Oban, which seems an unlikely place for the second coming.· The findings were based on examining all birth certificates registered in all the states and the District of Columbia.· How do I apply for a birth certificate?· I've seen my birth certificate.· Researchers limited their report to statistics gathered on birth certificates, which allowed for analysis of cities.· The official birth certificate shows he was registered as Liam Butler.· Part of the program would require states to develop more tamper-proof birth certificates and drivers licenses.
· Sterilisation may be the ideal method of birth control for couples who are sure they have completed their family.· There are, moreover, other barriers to using birth control.· Many feminists were also interested in birth control as an issue although discretion dictated a public silence.· Meanwhile, the birth control movement was becoming more respectable.· This information leaflet replaces those previously issued and those under the title Modern methods of birth control.· After the 1980 elections, we knew that the rights to both birth control and abortion were at risk.· Except not the end of the episode if there were a failure of a birth control measure and the result was conception.· Couples desperate not to have a child sometimes fail to use birth control.
· They filed in, giving birth dates and names.· He kept his birth date a mystery, but according to the Baseball Encyclopedia he already was 42.· From Seymour Direct, it has easy-to-read numbers and is personalised with the child's name and birth date.· It asks my birth date, if I have any children and my marital status.
· Obvious other exclusions include blindness and deafness as well as rare birth defects.· Aid workers say areas that were heavily bombed now have high rates of birth defects, sterility and mental retardation.· It says that the company razed forests, polluted rivers, retarded crop growth and caused birth defects.· In some areas of the Black Triangle, ten per-cent of all live births resulted in infants with crippling birth defects.· It is thought that the right-handed molecule produced the therapeutic effect but the left-handed molecule produced the birth defects.· Early reports of birth defects l inked to the Gulf War syndrome have been disproved, Whitesides said.· They also claim that fluoride potentially causes birth defects.· I say, pointing to the sign behind the bar, warning pregnant women that drinking alcohol can cause birth defects.
· We will increase the availability both of treatment by women health professionals and of home birth.
· Parasitic infections were high regardless of family size and appeared unrelated to birth order.· But as Sulloway was plugging away, other scientists were busy debunking birth order.· Indeed, it is worth remembering that the effect of birth order may vary with maternal age.· Jules Angst and Cecile Ernst, published a survey of all the birth order research from 1946 to 1980.· Though maternal age and birth order have an independent effect on the viability of the fetus, that act together.· This group of work-inhibited students was quite evenly divided in terms of birth order.· In all countries, children of high birth order have comparatively poor survival chances.· Still birth ratios also increase with birth order in each birth interval category.
· For adopted children that quest may include tracing their natural or birth parents.· Adopted children and birth parents are registering at Web archives with hopes of making matches.· After that they are free to carry out the search for their birth parents.· Allowing birth parents to express their emotions can be an important part of confronting their grief.· None of the children wanted to go and live with their birth parents, but simply to keep contact.· Attempts at reuniting them with their birth parents will have failed.· Tracing birth parents Having obtained their original birth certificate, adoptees can start tracing their birth parents.
· However, the numbers are decreasing as the birth rate decreases generally.· The teen birth rate has declined for all ethnicities.· Average birth rates for women in developing countries have fallen from six per woman to three in the past three decades.· Nevertheless, high birth rates ensured that society was far more youthful in its composition than it is today.· By far the greatest effect on the crude mortality rates was when mortality rates due to immaturity were adjusted for low birth rate.· The birth rate will only be cut, however, if the health prospects of poor families are improved.· The fall in the birth rate in the 1970s means that the number of people entering the labour market today is falling.· A country renowned for its love of large, close families now has the lowest birth rate in the developed world.
· Barker etal reported that low birth weight was associated with lower adult lung function but not with symptoms of wheeze.· Low birth weight is another measure of the well-being of infants and children.· Expected values of birth weight for gestational age were obtained by regressing the natural logarithm of birth weight on gestational age.· Reduced lung function has been associated with low birth weight regardless of whether the child had respiratory complications at birth.· Our results confirm the relation between birth weight and lung function measurements reported in other studies.· In contrast to a previous report, we found no significant inverse relations between birth weight and blood pressure.· This was the sample used for the analysis of birth weight, gestational age, and respiratory symptoms.· For children with normal length of gestation there was a positive association between birth weight and lung function.
VERB· He believes that the medical profession is encouraging Down's babies to die at birth because of ignorance and fear.· Lothair died shortly after the birth of their daughter Emma.· If two tailless Manx cats are mated, the kittens are so deformed that they nearly always die before birth.· His father, a comptroller of customs, had died months before his birth.· They had one son, who died at birth.· The couple had had a son who died shortly after birth.· She had died in giving birth to Selene, having already been nearly ruined by the birth of Dinah.· A neighbor, W. H. Tonn, had several cattle die or give birth to stillborn calves after the explosion.
· The Birmingham Canal, authorised in 1768, in effect gave birth to a port.· The dancers would dance, the mannequin would shiver and give birth to the green girl.· Locklear has just given birth to a daughter.· One female rock star likened the feeling to the one some women have after giving birth - lets have another one.· It is now universally agreed that HIV-2 can not have given birth to HIV-1.· Females give birth to as many as five offspring in late winter, after a gestation period of up to 10 months.· Language, I have learned, by writing about this, gives birth to feeling, not the other way around.
· But even when both parents register a birth, they may not stay together long.
PHRASES FROM THE ENTRY
1give birth (to somebody) if a woman gives birth, she produces a baby from her body: - At 9:40 Claudia gave birth to a nine-pound baby boy.
- Another version has Poseidon raping the Gorgon, Medousa, who gives birth to Persephone.
- Clones of clones are giving birth to other clones.
- Earth gave birth to her last and most frightful offspring, a creature more terrible than any that had gone before.
- Locklear has just given birth to a daughter.
- The Birmingham Canal, authorised in 1768, in effect gave birth to a port.
- These females do not lay eggs; they give birth to young aphids, all of which are females.
- Two months later she gave birth to a female child who was born with club feet.
Patsy was celebrating last night after giving birth to twins.2[countable, uncountable] the time when a baby comes out of its mother’s body: Congratulations on the birth of your daughter! He only weighed 2 kilos at birth. Henry has been blind from birth. What’s your date of birth? The exact place of birth is not recorded. They believe that the position of the planets at the time of birth determines the fate of the individual. More and more women are choosing to have home births. Smoking in pregnancy has been linked to premature birth. the association between birth weight and blood pressure The drug was found to cause serious birth defects.3[singular] the time when something new starts to existbirth of the birth of a nation The film gave birth to a TV show of the same name.► see thesaurus at beginning4[uncountable] the character, language, social position etc that you have because of the family or country you come from: a woman of noble birthFrench/German etc by birthCOLLOCATIONS– Meaning 2phrasessomebody’s date of birth especially British English, somebody’s birth date especially American English (=the day, month and year you were born)· Please give your name, address, and date of birth.somebody’s place/country of birth· I wanted to find out my father’s place of birth.birth +NOUNbirth weight (=a baby’s weight when it is born)· Many factors may affect a baby’s birth weight.a birth certificate (=an official document showing when and where you were born)the birth rate (=the number of babies born somewhere)· The country’s birth rate has decreased dramatically.a birth defect (=something wrong with a baby when it is born)· About 11% of babies have birth defects.ADJECTIVES/NOUN + birtha premature birth (=when a baby is born before the normal time)· Many babies survive premature births.a multiple birth (=when a woman has two or more babies at the same time)· The chance of a multiple birth is about 1 in 100 for the average woman.a home birth (=when a woman gives birth at home, not in a hospital)· I decided I wanted a home birth for my second child.- nasturtium
- nasty
- natal
- natch
- nation
- National
- national
- National Airport
- national anthem
- National Archives
- National Basketball Association
- National Cancer Institute
- National Centre for Popular Music
- National Childbirth Trust
- National Collegiate Athletic Association
- National Conference
- national costume
- National Curriculum
- national debt
- national dress
- National Endowment for the Arts
- National Endowment for the Humanities
- National Enquirer, The
- National Exhibition Centre
- National Express