miscarry

[mis-kar-ee; for 1 also mis-kar-ee]

See more synonyms for miscarry on Thesaurus.com

verb (used without object), mis·car·ried, mis·car·ry·ing.

to have a miscarriage of a fetus.
to fail to attain the right or desired end; be unsuccessful: The plan miscarried.
to go astray or be lost in transit, as a letter.

Origin of miscarry

First recorded in 1275–1325, miscarry is from the Middle English word miscarien. See mis-¹, carry

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

Related Words for miscarry

abort, slip, decline, founder, flounder, misfire, flop, blunder, fold, fizzle, fall, miss, backslide, deteriorate

Examples from the Web for miscarry

Contemporary Examples of miscarry

She told me that if I decided to miscarry, there was nothing they could do about it.
States Slap Pregnant Women With Harsher Jail Sentences
Emily Shire
December 12, 2014
He died on the spot and his mate, who was pregnant at the time, proceeded to miscarry due to depression.
If You Build It, They Will Skate
Maysoon Zayid
July 17, 2013

Historical Examples of miscarry

I am for that of Paris; it cannot miscarry; I have considered it well.
The Memoirs of Cardinal de Retz, Complete
Jean Francois Paul de Gondi, Cardinal de Retz
Without these the Revolution will miscarry and our Dastur will not be worth a date-stone.
The Book of Khalid
Ameen Rihani
The Cardinal's plans were, indeed, likely to miscarry if he persisted thus.
The Suitors of Yvonne
Raphael Sabatini
“No, they not miscarry yet,” replied the Arab, with a grim smile.
Black Ivory
R.M. Ballantyne
It grieves me mightily; for it will be a sad houre to the family should she miscarry.
Diary of Samuel Pepys, Complete
Samuel Pepys

British Dictionary definitions for miscarry

miscarry

verb -ries, -rying or -ried (intr)

to expel a fetus prematurely from the womb; abort
to failall her plans miscarried
British (of freight, mail, etc) to fail to reach a destination

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 miscarry

c.1300, "go astray;" mid-14c., "come to harm, perish;" of persons, "to die," of objects, "to be lost or destroyed," from mis- (1) "wrongly" + caryen "to carry" (see carry (v.)). Meaning "deliver unviable fetus" first recorded 1520s; that of "fail, come to naught" (of plans or designs) is from c.1600. Related: Miscarried; miscarrying.

miscarry in Medicine

miscarry

[mĭs′kăr′ē, mĭs-kăr′ē]

To have a miscarriage; abort.