: an unborn or unhatched vertebrate especially after attaining the basic structural plan of its kind;
specifically
: a developing human from usually two months after conception to birth — compare embryo 1b
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Recent Examples of fetus from the Web
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At the foot of his deathbed, another monolith looms over his decrepit body, and he is transformed into a fetus in an amniotic sac, hovering over the Earth with his eyes wide open.
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The former example, a free series of short films about how a human fetus develops, is utter Vive Pro catnip.
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Meanwhile, a doctor who terminates a fetus to save a mother’s life directly intends the infant’s end.
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The exposures began when the rats were fetuses and continued for 19 hours a day until the animals died from natural causes.
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Another, House Bill 455, would ban abortions in cases where the fetus has Down syndrome.
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Holcomb also signed a measure Sunday that allows those who kill a fetus in a crime to be charged with murder, regardless of the age of the fetus.
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Doctors soon identified it as human and possibly the remains of a miscarried fetus, but some of the deformities defied analysis — further feeding suspicions of some kind of cover-up.
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One of the central questions was why Ata—only 15 centimeters tall and thus the size of a 5-month-old fetus—had bone development in the growth plates of its knees that would normally be seen in a 6-year-old.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'fetus.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Origin and Etymology of fetus
Middle English, from Latin, act of bearing young, offspring; akin to Latin fetus newly delivered, fruitful — more at feminine
NEW! Time Traveler
First Known Use: 14th century
in the meaning defined above
See Words from the same yearOther Embryology Terms
FETUS Defined for English Language Learners
FETUS Defined for Kids
: an animal not yet born or hatched but more developed than an embryo
Medical Dictionary
Learn More about fetus
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See words that rhyme with fetus Spanish Central: Translation of fetus Nglish: Translation of fetus for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of fetus for Arabic speakers Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about fetus
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