in vitro fertilization


noun
  1. a specialized technique by which an ovum, especially a human one, is fertilized by sperm outside the body, with the resulting embryo later implanted in the uterus for gestation.

Origin of in vitro fertilization

1
First recorded in 1970–75

Words Nearby in vitro fertilization

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How to use in vitro fertilization in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for in vitro fertilization

in vitro fertilization

noun
  1. a technique enabling some women who are unable to conceive to bear children. Egg cells removed from a woman's ovary are fertilized by sperm in vitro; some of the resulting fertilized egg cells are incubated until the blastocyst stage, which are then implanted into her uterus: Abbreviation: IVF

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for in vitro fertilization

in vitro fertilization

  1. Fertilization of an egg outside the body of a female by the addition of sperm, as a means of producing a zygote.

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