birth pangs
Americanplural noun
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pains associated with the process of childbirth.
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Informal. the hardships and difficulties accompanying a major innovation, change, or new venture.
Etymology
Origin of birth pangs
First recorded in 1885–90
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.
"I started having birth pangs pretty much as we started leaving Carlisle," she said.
From BBC • Apr. 24, 2025
His knack for conveying compositional struggle ingeniously reflects his theme — a nation’s birth pangs.
From Washington Post • Jan. 23, 2020
The country was in the process of changing, and the birth pangs of our current life were happening.
From Scientific American • May 2, 2019
Possibly, it was the birth pangs of a genuine female elite—the daughters of feminism finally thrust into power.
From Salon • Sep. 17, 2013
With the memory of her own birth pangs still lingering, she had knowledge now of what her mother had suffered when she, Katie, was born.
From "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" by Betty Smith
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.
