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morning sickness

American  

noun

  1. nausea occurring in the early part of the day, especially as a characteristic symptom in the first months of pregnancy.


morning sickness British  

noun

  1. nausea occurring shortly after rising: an early symptom of pregnancy

"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

Etymology

Origin of morning sickness

First recorded in 1875–80

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.

See Examples For:

I could barely get out of bed and couldn't hold much food down, but I assumed it was just morning sickness and that it would pass.

From BBC Jun. 29, 2026

The intense morning sickness she endured during the pregnancy had eroded the enamel on her teeth.

From The Wall Street Journal Dec. 28, 2025

When it comes to medications that can lessen the symptoms of HG, there’s the old nausea standby of Zofran, and there’s Unisom, which is used for morning sickness.

From Slate Sep. 15, 2024

Though it was long thought that morning sickness is caused by hCG, the recent breakthrough has shown that HG's main cause is actually the hormone GDF15, which is part of a normal stress response.

From Science Daily May 22, 2024

Emma suffered from morning sickness and other discomforts of pregnancy; Charles had headaches and was often nauseated.

From "Charles and Emma: The Darwins' Leap of Faith" by Deborah Heiligman

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