gestation

noun ges·ta·tion \ je-ˈstā-shən \

|Updated on: 4 Aug 2018

Examples: gestation in a Sentence

Definition of gestation

1 : the carrying of young in the uterus (see uterus 1) : pregnancy

2 : conception (see conception 3) and development especially in the mind

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gestational

play \je-ˈstā-shnəl, -shə-nᵊl\ adjective

See gestation defined for English-language learners

See gestation defined for kids

Examples of gestation in a Sentence

the gestation of new ideas
The book has been in gestation for a long time.

Recent Examples of gestation from the Web

In a typical year, Bill would put his cows in with a few bulls and nine months and 10 days later, the gestation period for a cow, 90 percent of them would give birth to calves.

— josh haner, National Geographic, "The Last Cowboys: A Cattle-Ranching Family Fights to Survive," 29 June 2018
Rather, the gestation period can be decades, as villages build up a critical mass of residents to support retailers.

— neal templin, WSJ, "What Makes Walkable Communities Work," 26 June 2018
The idea for FirstNet was long in gestation, beginning with the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, but has rapidly come to fruition in the year since AT&T won a contract to build it for the federal government.

— tom jackman, Washington Post, "FirstNet launches, giving police and firefighters a dedicated wireless network and infinite possibilities," 25 June 2018
The ponds that retain water from the snowmelt in the mountains dry up and the herd’s gestation cycles get thrown off.

— josh haner, National Geographic, "The Last Cowboys: A Cattle-Ranching Family Fights to Survive," 29 June 2018
In happier times between McDonald’s and the animal rights group, the two entities jointly announced in 2012 that the company was ending the use of gestation stalls in its pork supply chain.

— greg trotter, chicagotribune.com, "Animal welfare group targets McDonald's in new TV ads in Chicago market," 20 June 2018
Labor course for gestation is at 63%, 3.5 million people below the 64%, 50 year average.

— recode staff, Recode, "Full video and transcript: Kleiner Perkins’ Mary Meeker at Code 2018," 31 May 2018
Some experts speculate that in vitro fertilization and surrogate gestation could lead to a live birth within ten years.

— daniel fernandez, Smithsonian, "Can the Northern White Rhino Be Brought Back From the Brink of Extinction?," 22 May 2018
Does lacking good nutrition through winter and spring sometimes will self-abort if their physical condition significantly deteriorates during their 200-day gestation term.

— shannon tompkins, Houston Chronicle, "Texas summer a key factor in wildlife cycle," 17 May 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'gestation.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of gestation

Latin gestation-, gestatio, from gestare to bear, frequentative of gerere to bear

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1615

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

gestation Synonyms

Other Embryology Terms

gravid, neonate, ontogeny, parturition

GESTATION Defined for English Language Learners

gestation

noun

Definition of gestation for English Language Learners

: the time when a person or animal is developing inside its mother before it is born; also : the process of development that happens during this time
: the process by which something (such as an idea) forms and develops