birth control

[burth kuhn-trohl]

noun

1. 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.

2. 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.

birth control

noun

1. limitation of child-bearing by means of contraception See also family planning

birth control

1. Planned interference with conception in order to control the number of offspring born. Birth control techniques include drugs containing hormones, the diaphragm, and the intrauterine device.

birth control

1. The practice of preventing conception to limit the number of births. (See contraception, family planning, population control, and Margaret Sanger.)

Other Word Forms

• probirth-control adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of birth control¹

First recorded in 1905–10; popularized in 1914 by Margaret Sanger ( def. )

Example Sentences

Natural Cycles is the first app cleared by the FDA for birth control.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Dr. Erica Johnstone, a reproductive endocrinologist and infertility specialist, said that hormonal birth control has many potential benefits beyond contraception, but that it’s not a one-size-fits-all approach.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

She also believes abortion is murder and in vitro fertilization, surrogate parenthood and hormonal birth control are wrong, including in marriage.

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These supplies were originally intended for distribution in low-income countries, but the administration says it no longer views contraception as lifesaving treatment, and will no longer fund birth control products for other nations.

Read more on Salon

As envisioned, local tribes would help manage the herd, including darting horses with a birth control vaccine to limit population growth.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• abstinence 
• condom 
• contraceptive 
• diaphragm 
• family planning 
• pill 
• vasectomy