birth control
Americannoun
-
regulation of the number of children born through the deliberate control or prevention of conception.
She campaigned and went to prison for the right of women to practice birth control.
-
a drug, technique, or device used to deliberately control or prevent conception (often used attributively).
Diaphragms were a common form of birth control long before the invention of contraceptive pills.
Vasectomies are growing in frequency as a birth control method in many countries.
noun
Other Word Forms
- probirth-control adjective
Etymology
Origin of birth control
First recorded in 1905–10; popularized in 1914 by Margaret Sanger ( def. )
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Planned Parenthood offers a range of services, including abortions, birth control and cancer screenings.
From Los Angeles Times
Some of the women decided to take a long-acting contraceptive method, instead of the birth control pills, because they were worried about funding being cut again, she added.
From Salon
Planned Parenthood offers a range of services, including abortions, birth control, cancer screenings and testings for sexually transmitted diseases.
From Los Angeles Times
It wasn’t until my late 30s, after I changed my birth control and started getting regular periods for the first time in years, that I started paying close attention to my body’s signals.
From Los Angeles Times
Like birth control pills, a treatment that works for one woman might cause side effects for another.
From Los Angeles Times
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
