womb
Americannoun
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wombs
plural
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the uterus of the human female and certain higher mammals.
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the place in which anything is formed or produced.
the womb of time.
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the interior of anything.
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Obsolete. the belly.
noun
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the nontechnical name for uterus
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a hollow space enclosing something, esp when dark, warm, or sheltering
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a place where something is conceived
the Near East is the womb of western civilization
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obsolete the belly
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of womb
before 900; Middle English, Old English: belly, womb; cognate with Dutch wam, German Wamme, Gothic wamba belly; cf. wamus
Explanation
A womb is the organ in which female mammals grow and carry a fetus before it's ready to be born. Your first home was a womb, but good luck trying to return there. Womb is a slightly more casual, everyday way to say uterus. Whichever word you use, it's the name of the organ that biologically female mammals have for growing fetuses before birth. Many animals have two wombs, but humans just have one. In Old English, womb meant "uterus," but it also meant "belly, bowels, or heart."
Vocabulary lists containing womb
Unit 1: Telling Details
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"The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet," Vocabulary from Act 2
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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:
Zika can spread from a birthing parent to their child in the womb and cause congenital disabilities, which notoriously led to panic after an outbreak erupted in Brazil in 2015.
From Slate ● Aug. 4, 2026
Researchers believe age-related changes in the womb lining may be the cause and could be treatable in the future.
From BBC ● Jul. 6, 2026
It might be possible to find ways to predict, prevent or improve womb age, they say.
From BBC ● Jul. 6, 2026
By the end of “Made in America,” Nakajima is no longer trying to find her way back to her mother’s womb.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 3, 2026
Robin cried, examining the womb on a flat rock.
From "The Line Tender" by Kate Allen
With this new definition, people who need to “borrow” DNA and wombs from fertility helpers—egg donors, sperm donors, and gestational carriers—have more protection from being discriminated against at fertility clinics and by insurance companies.
From Slate ● Nov. 6, 2023
The development of artificial wombs represents a “big transformational leap” that “solves lots of issues,” says David.
From Scientific American ● Sep. 18, 2023
Dr Stewart said some of those women are having to make "life-changing decisions" about having their ovaries, wombs and fallopian tubes removed to "manage their premenstrual symptoms".
From BBC ● Apr. 20, 2023
It was a classic pyramid scheme, even if cleverly dressed up in language about women's natural ability to generate abundance, just as we gestate children in our miraculous wombs.
From Salon ● Sep. 5, 2021
And I am sure that, as all pendulums reverse their swing, so eventually will the swollen cities rupture like dehiscent wombs and disperse their children back to the countryside.
From "Travels with Charley in Search of America" by John Steinbeck
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.
