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birth

noun
 
 
/bɜːθ/ US  /bɝːθ/

Definition

A2 [C or U] the time when a baby or young animal comes out of its mother's body: It was a difficult birth. He weighed eight pounds at birth. More men are present at the births of their children these days. The application form will ask for your country/place of birth (= where you were born).BirthPregnancy [C] a child that is born: The percentage of live births (= children who are born alive and continue to live) continues to increase. Registration of births and deaths became compulsory in 1871.BirthPregnancy [U] the position of the family into which you are born, especially its social position: He had received all the advantages of birth (= having been born into a family of a high social class) and an expensive education.Position and status in groups and organizations American, Italian, etc. by birth B2 born in a particular place or having parents of a particular nationality: Oscar Wilde was Irish by birth.Innate and congenitalGenetics C1 the beginning of something: These asteroids were formed at the birth of the solar system.
(Definition of birth noun from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)
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