birth control

[burth kuhn-trohl]

noun

1. regulation of the number of children born through the deliberate control or prevention of conception.

   She campaigned and went to prison for the right of women to practice birth control.

2. a drug, technique, or device used to deliberately control or prevent conception (often used attributively).

   Diaphragms were a common form of birth control long before the invention of contraceptive pills.

   Vasectomies are growing in frequency as a birth control method in many countries.

birth control

noun

1. limitation of child-bearing by means of contraception See also family planning

birth control

1. Planned interference with conception in order to control the number of offspring born. Birth control techniques include drugs containing hormones, the diaphragm, and the intrauterine device.

birth control

1. The practice of preventing conception to limit the number of births. (See contraception, family planning, population control, and Margaret Sanger.)

Other Word Forms

• probirth-control adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of birth control¹

First recorded in 1905–10; popularized in 1914 by Margaret Sanger ( def. )

Example Sentences

But in the 1970s, scientific advances like the birth control pill challenged the business world and certain religious factions, which formed an unlikely alliance against that bipartisan consensus.

From Salon

Use of the birth control was so widespread that Greenland's population growth severely slowed.

From BBC

The Heritage Foundation’s “report” on RRM wastes little time before demonizing the birth control pill as “a daily medication with no therapeutic purpose” and claiming, falsely, that the pill is the reason for infertility.

From Salon

“We will keep fighting this cruel law so that everyone can get birth control, STI testing and treatment, cancer screenings and other critical health care, no matter their insurance,” she said.

From Salon

The supplies, including long-acting contraceptive implants, IUDs, injectables and birth control pills, have been stored in a warehouse in Geel, Belgium, since January.

From Salon

Related Words

• abstinence 
• condom 
• contraceptive 
• diaphragm 
• family planning 
• pill 
• vasectomy