abortionnoun
uk/əˈbɔː.ʃən/us/əˈbɔːr.ʃən/abortion noun (END OF PREGNANCY)
C1 [ C or U ] the intentional ending of a pregnancy:
She decided to have/get an abortion.
Abortion is restricted in some American states.
Compare
miscarriage
stillbirth
More examples
- This change in the law would make abortion illegal except for strictly defined medical reasons.
- We're conducting a poll to find out what people think about abortion.
- Some women choose to have an abortion rather than care for a severely disabled child.
- Her husband longed for children, and she had an abortion without telling him.
- Many women die or become infertile as a result of unsafe abortions.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Obstetrics: pregnancy
- anti-choice
- artificial insemination
- backstreet abortion
- carry
- child
- ectopic pregnancy
- embryo
- embryonic
- expect
- family
- fruitful
- full-term
- have a bun in the oven idiom
- IVF
- late-term
- pro-choice
- pro-life
- surrogacy
- trimester
- trouble
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abortion noun (FAILURE)
[ C ] slang a failure:
This project is a complete abortion.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Failures
- a dog's breakfast idiom
- another/the final nail in the coffin idiom
- breakdown
- car crash
- cock-up
- dead duck
- foul-up
- free fall
- hash
- lemon
- lost cause
- lulu
- mess
- mess-up
- parody
- slim pickings
- slush pile
- track record
- train wreck
- turkey
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