birth pang
noun
1
: one of the regularly recurrent pains that are characteristic of childbirth
—usually used in plural
2
birth pangs plural
: disorder and distress incident especially to a major social change
Examples of birth pang in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
And the Affordable Care Act, for all of its birth pangs and flaws and the Republican efforts to repeal it, remains the law of the land.
—
Peter Baker, New York Times, 22 Mar. 2024
But for Chollet, as for Obama, this apparent defect is actually a strength, and the current world disorder is less the result of flawed U.S. strategies than the birth pangs of a new and better order.
—Derek Chollet, Foreign Affairs, 10 Aug. 2016
His knack for conveying compositional struggle ingeniously reflects his theme — a nation’s birth pangs.
—Sebastian Smee, Washington Post, 24 Jan. 2020
Peter Baker, New York Times, 22 Mar. 2024
But for Chollet, as for Obama, this apparent defect is actually a strength, and the current world disorder is less the result of flawed U.S. strategies than the birth pangs of a new and better order.
—Derek Chollet, Foreign Affairs, 10 Aug. 2016
His knack for conveying compositional struggle ingeniously reflects his theme — a nation’s birth pangs.
—Sebastian Smee, Washington Post, 24 Jan. 2020
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'birth pang.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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“Birth pang.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/birth%20pang. Accessed 23 Apr. 2024.
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