birth

/bərθ/

/bəθ/

Other forms: births; birthing; birthed

Definitions of birth

1. noun

   the time when something begins (especially life)
   “they divorced after the birth of the child”

   “his election signaled the birth of a new age”

   antonyms:

   death

   the time when something ends

   types:

   cradle

   birth of a person

   type of:

   beginning, commencement, first, get-go, kickoff, offset, outset, showtime, start, starting time

   the time at which something is supposed to begin
2. noun

   the event of being born
   “they celebrated the birth of their first child”

   synonyms: nascence, nascency, nativity

   antonyms:

   death

   the event of dying or departure from life

   types:

   delivery

   the event of giving birth

   live birth

   the birth of a living fetus (regardless of the length of gestation)

   posthumous birth

   birth of a child by Caesarean section after the death of the mother

   posthumous birth

   birth of a child after the father has died

   rebirth, reincarnation, renascence

   a second or new birth

   blessed event, happy event

   the live birth of a child

   transmigration

   the passing of a soul into another body after death

   cycle of rebirth

   (Hinduism) repeated rebirth in new forms

   type of:

   alteration, change, modification

   an event that occurs when something passes from one state or phase to another
3. noun

   the process of giving birth
   synonyms: birthing, giving birth, parturition

   types:

   brooding, incubation

   sitting on eggs so as to hatch them by the warmth of the body

   calving

   giving birth to a baby cow, whale, elephant, etc.

   accouchement, childbearing, childbirth, vaginal birth

   the parturition process in human beings; having a baby; the process of giving birth to a child

   farrow, farrowing

   the production of a litter of pigs

   hatch, hatching

   the production of young from an egg

   egg laying, laying

   the production of eggs (especially in birds)

   childbed, confinement, labor, labour, lying-in, parturiency, travail

   concluding state of pregnancy; from the onset of contractions to the birth of a child

   active birth

   childbirth during which the mother is encouraged to be an active participant

   alternative birth, alternative birthing

   a method of childbirth that avoids intrusive high-tech medicine in favor of more natural and homely settings

   natural childbirth

   labor and childbirth without medical intervention; no drugs are given to relieve pain or aid the birth process

   premature labor, premature labour

   labor beginning prior to the 37th week of gestation

   type of:

   biological process, organic process

   a process occurring in living organisms
4. noun

   a baby born; an offspring
   “the overall rate of incidence of Down's syndrome is one in every 800 births”

   type of:

   individual, mortal, person, somebody, someone, soul

   a human being
5. noun

   the kinship relation of an offspring to the parents
   synonyms: parentage

   type of:

   family relationship, kinship, relationship

   (anthropology) relatedness or connection by blood or marriage or adoption
6. verb

   cause to be born
   synonyms: bear, deliver, give birth, have

   bear, carry, expect, gestate, have a bun in the oven

   be pregnant with

   types:

   twin

   give birth to twins

   drop

   give birth; used for animals

   foal

   give birth to a foal

   cub

   give birth to cubs

   kitten

   have kittens

   lamb

   give birth to a lamb

   litter

   give birth to a litter of animals

   pup, whelp

   birth

   farrow, pig

   give birth

   fawn

   have fawns

   calve, have young

   birth

   bear, carry, expect, gestate, have a bun in the oven

   be pregnant with

   type of:

   bring forth, produce

   bring forth or yield