birth control
Americannoun
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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.
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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
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.
A woman who has been diagnosed with three brain tumours believes they were caused by the birth control drug she took for more than 20 years.
From BBC • Jul. 1, 2026
Others believe the best solution is darting the horses with birth control, a method used elsewhere in the U.S.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 30, 2026
Around a decade later, when Danovich went to a clinic for another IUD—a small, T-shaped birth control device that’s inserted past the cervix into the uterus—she asked the doctor for pain medication.
From Slate • Jun. 7, 2026
For many patients, birth control and other reproductive health medications already arrive by delivery, prescribed through telehealth and filled by out-of-state pharmacies.
From Salon • May 2, 2026
It was the tail end of the baby boom in a heavily Catholic community, back when Catholics still listened to Rome on matters of birth control.
From "Drama High" by Michael Sokolove
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.
