Longman Dictionary English

Explore Birth Topic
From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Related topics: Birth, Nationality & race
birthbirth /bɜːθ $ bɜːrθ/ ●●● S2 W2 noun 1 → give birth (to somebody)2 [countable, uncountable]MB 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]BEGINNING 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]SANCOME FROM/ORIGINATE 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 2: the time when a baby comes out of its mother’s bodyphrasessomebody’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 birthI 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 + birth a 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.
Examples from the Corpus
birth• Most birds cannot identify their parents at birth and simply follow the first moving object they see.• Childless, they were free, not constrained - constraining - links between birth and death.• It was a very difficult birth.• Two months later she gave birth to a female child who was born with club feet.• 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.• It's quite common now for fathers to be present at the birth of their babies.• This causes temporary softening of the ligaments in preparation for the birth.• Congratulations on the birth of your daughter!• the birth of a nation• the birth of photography• That your children love you back is nearly as miraculous as their birth.• There have been three births in our family this year.date of birth• It was in a box and marked with 66-year-old Beryl's name, address and date of birth.• During the 5 minute hearing Mr Yates spoke twice, to confirm his name and date of birth.• You must give your correct date of birth, because in many cases it will affect the validity of your licence.• The databases often contain Social Security numbers, dates of birth and current and prior addresses.• His origins, date of birth, and education are unknown.• They represent a man's date of birth, a driving licence number and an identity number.• Please show date of birth for Junior Championship contenders.• Um, and I need your date of birth.gave birth to• The era also gave birth to a whole array of new social problems.• The woman later gave birth to a healthy baby in a subsequent pregnancy.• The 35-year-old gave birth to his son a year ago and stood up for her husband during his trial.• Two months later she gave birth to a female child who was born with club feet.• They bought a home in suburban Maryland, and a year later she gave birth to their daughter, Patricia.• And when she gave birth to an eight-pound baby boy the whole family expressed amazement at such a miracle.• A checkered garter snake gave birth to three baby snakes in the ginger belt at the edge of the rain forest.• C., where last month his wife gave birth to their third child.Origin birth (1200-1300) Old Norse byrth
ldoceonline.com