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test-tube baby

American  

noun

  1. an infant developed from an ovum fertilized in vitro and implanted into a woman's uterus, usually that of the biological mother.


test-tube baby British  

noun

  1. a fetus that has developed from an ovum fertilized in an artificial womb

  2. a baby conceived by artificial insemination

"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 test-tube baby

First recorded in 1930–35

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:

An android raises a test-tube baby as its own in the new sci-fi fable “I Am Mother.”

From Los Angeles Times May 31, 2019

May I point out I wasn’t a test-tube baby without being rude?

From New York Times Jun. 28, 2012

Sir Robert is honoured eight months after being awarded the Nobel Prize for medicine in recognition of work that led to the birth of the first test-tube baby in 1978.

From BBC Jun. 10, 2011

Earlier this month the Nobel prize for medicine or physiology went to British physiologist Robert Edwards, whose work led to the birth of the first "test-tube baby," Louise Brown, in 1979.

From Reuters Oct. 25, 2010

They were pioneers in the field of infertility treatments, and were responsible for the first test-tube baby born in the United States.

From "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" by Rebecca Skloot

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