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foetus

American  
[fee-tuhs] / ˈfi təs /

noun

Chiefly British.

plural

foetuses

  1. fetus.

foetus British  
/ ˈfiːtəs /

noun

  1. a variant spelling of fetus

"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

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.

The woman and the doctors were aware of defects affecting her foetus, but the termination of her pregnancy was delayed.

From Barron's • Mar. 3, 2026

The hospital said the decisions of medical staff were based on concerns for the health of both mother and foetus.

From Barron's • Mar. 3, 2026

According to Izabela's family, doctors waited for her foetus to die before acting, fearing legal consequences.

From Barron's • Mar. 3, 2026

"We never refer to our miscarriage as a foetus, it's always 'our baby', 'my daughter's sibling'."

From BBC • Jul. 11, 2025

He was curled up like a foetus in an empty room on an old mattress that the last people to leave the Barracks had left behind in the flat.

From "The London Eye Mystery" by Siobhan Dowd

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.