childbearing

[chahyld-bair-ing]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR childbearing ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

the act of producing or bringing forth children.

adjective

capable of, suitable for, or relating to the bearing of a child or of children: the childbearing years.

Origin of childbearing

Middle English word dating back to 1350–1400; see origin at child, bearing

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for child-bearing

fertilization, propagation, gravidity, impregnation, germination, gestation, child-bearing

Examples from the Web for child-bearing

Contemporary Examples of child-bearing

From October 24: In the early 1980s, there were some 29 abortions per 1,000 women of child-bearing age.
Recognize Reality on Abortion
David Frum
January 22, 2013
Societies that do the least to support mothers and child-bearing have more abortions.
Let's Get Real About Abortions
David Frum
October 29, 2012
As a general rule, societies that do the most to support mothers and child-bearing have the fewest abortions.
Let's Get Real About Abortions
David Frum
October 29, 2012

Historical Examples of child-bearing

Counting in the child-bearing women, I reckon about twenty per cent.
Among the Pines
James R. Gilmore
Cheese and a cake with a Device of Child-bearing and a promise of babies.
Early English Meals and Manners
Various
These signs all mean that her essential function is child-bearing.
The Crown of Wild Olive
John Ruskin
He cursed her in child-bearing or in barrenness, and he cursed her children after her to all generations.
Moon of Israel
H. Rider Haggard
It all seems very dark to me, and the burden of child-bearing is not all the mother's.
Yonder
Emily Hilda Young

British Dictionary definitions for child-bearing

child-bearing

noun

the act or process of carrying and giving birth to a child
(as modifier)of child-bearing age

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

Word Origin and History for child-bearing

also childbearing, "bringing forth of a child," late 14c., from child + verbal noun of bear (v.). As an adjective from late 14c.

child-bearing in Medicine

childbearing

[chīld′bâr′ĭng]

n.

Pregnancy and parturition.

Related formschild′bear′ing adj.