gestation

noun

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ges·ta·tion | \ je-ˈstā-shən

Definition of gestation

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

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

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Examples of gestation in a Sentence

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

Recent Examples on the Web At issue is a challenge to Mississippi’s Gestational Age Act, a 2018 law that prohibited doctors from performing abortions after 15 weeks of gestation except in medical emergency or in case of severe fetal abnormality. — Jacob Gershman, WSJ, 18 May 2021 Some good news: The percentage of infants born small and premature — at less less than 37 weeks of gestation — fell slightly, to 10%, after rising five years in a row. — Mike Stobbe, Anchorage Daily News, 5 May 2021 Some good news: The percentage of infants born small and premature — at less than 37 weeks of gestation — fell slightly, to 10 percent, after rising five years in a row. — NBC News, 3 May 2021 Each new novel’s gestation and critical reception is logged, but there’s far, far more of the writer than the writing in these pages. — Steve Donoghue, The Christian Science Monitor, 14 Apr. 2021 Trump’s Office of Refugee Resettlement — the department charged with taking care of underage migrants apprehended at the Southern border — kept a spreadsheet tracking the gestation period of pregnant girls in its custody. — Tessa Stuart, Rolling Stone, 12 May 2021 She was born in Syracuse, New York, at 27 weeks, far shy of the typical gestation period of 40 weeks. — Edward Lee, baltimoresun.com, 28 Apr. 2021 According to an advocacy memo posted by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, an industry group with over 60,000 members, fetuses are not capable of feeling pain until at least 24 weeks gestation. — Caroline Kelly, CNN, 27 Apr. 2021 The project, which had been in a creative gestation period for two years, is now officially in development. — Devon Ivie, Vulture, 27 Apr. 2021

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.