birth·ing
Audio Help [bur-thing] Pronunciation Key
Audio Help [bur-thing] Pronunciation Key –noun
| an act or instance of giving birth, esp. by natural childbirth. |
| Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006. |
birthing
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| birth
Audio Help (bûrth) Pronunciation Key
n.
tr.v. birthed, birth·ing, births Chiefly Southern U.S.
[Middle English, probably of Scandinavian origin; see bher-1 in Indo-European roots.] Until recently the use of birth as a verb meaning "to bear (a child)" has been confined to Southern speech: "Heap o' good it do a woman to birth a mess o' young uns and raise 'em and then have 'em all go off to oncet" (Marjorie K. Rawlings). Recently, however, the nonstandard Southern usage has coincided with widespread usage of verbs derived from nouns, such as parent, network, and microwave. Birth in this new usage is most commonly found in its present participial form and is used as an adjective in compounds such as birthing center. |
| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
| birth·ing
Audio Help (bûr'thĭng) Pronunciation Key
adj. Having to do with or used during birth: a birthing counselor. n. The act of giving birth. |
| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
| birthing | |
noun | |
| the process of giving birth [syn: parturition] |
| WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University. |
Birthing
Birth"ing\, n. (Naut.) Anything added to raise the sides of a ship. --Bailey.| Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc. |
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