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

You’ve spoken eloquently about the effect of going off birth control.

From Los Angeles Times

She said after years of medical appointments and being told it was "just part of being a woman", "probably IBS" or repeatedly being prescribed birth control, she paid for a hysterectomy, retaining her ovaries.

From BBC

Means has made the podcast rounds, blaming birth control for infertility.

From Salon

One popular video on the Girls Defined channel, less than a minute long, warns viewers about birth control, Planned Parenthood, feminism and mood stabilizers.

From Salon

In interviews with the Washington Post, they noted that eugenicists were traditionally and overwhelmingly opposed to birth control and abortion.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

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