pregnancy

preg·nan·cy | \ ˈpreg-nən(t)-sē

How to pronounce pregnancy (audio)

\

plural pregnancies

Definition of pregnancy

1 : the quality of being pregnant (as in meaning)

2 : the condition of being pregnant : gestation

3 : an instance of being pregnant

Synonyms Example Sentences Learn More about pregnancy

Keep scrolling for more

Examples of pregnancy in a Sentence

an elephant's pregnancy can last almost a year

Recent Examples on the Web Most recent studies have focused on women in the later stages of pregnancy. — Sumathi Reddy, WSJ, "What You Need to Know About Covid-19 and Pregnancy," 12 Oct. 2020 As the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention notes, just 1% of abortions occur after 21 weeks of pregnancy. — Stacey Leasca, Glamour, "No, Biden And Harris Do Not Support Abortion ‘All The Way to the Moment of Birth’," 8 Oct. 2020 Most abortions are performed in the earlier stages of pregnancy. — Author: Glenn Kessler, Salvador Rizzo, Meg Kelly, Anchorage Daily News, "Fact-checking the vice presidential debate between Pence and Harris," 8 Oct. 2020 It’s most common in the first trimester (before the 12th week of pregnancy). — Claire Gillespie, Health.com, "Chrissy Teigen Reveals Miscarriage of Her Baby Boy: 'The Kind of Pain We’ve Never Felt Before’," 1 Oct. 2020 The method promises a window on how defects in placental development may lead to infertility, miscarriage, and preeclampsia, a dangerous complication of pregnancy. — Kelly Servick, Science | AAAS, "Stem cells offer new glimpse at how the placenta emerges—and how the fetus-sustaining organ can fail," 30 Sep. 2020 Those cases involve sweeping bans on abortions after six weeks or eight weeks of pregnancy. — Jessica Gresko, chicagotribune.com, "From health care to the election, here are the issues a more conservative Supreme Court could decide," 27 Sep. 2020 Those cases involve sweeping bans on abortions after six weeks or eight weeks of pregnancy. — Jessica Gresko, Star Tribune, "On guns, abortion, high court could become more conservative," 27 Sep. 2020 Colombia was also on the cusp of change at the start of March, as the country awaited a Constitutional Court ruling on whether to legalize abortions during the first 16 weeks of pregnancy. — Washington Post, "How the pandemic has affected abortion rules around the world," 26 Sep. 2020

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

Keep scrolling for more

Learn More about pregnancy

Dictionary Entries near pregnancy

Statistics for pregnancy

Last Updated

26 Oct 2020

Cite this Entry

“Pregnancy.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pregnancy. Accessed 29 Oct. 2020.

Keep scrolling for more

More Definitions for pregnancy

pregnancy

noun

English Language Learners Definition of pregnancy

: the condition of a woman or female animal that is going to have a baby or babies : the condition of a pregnant woman or female animal

See the full definition for pregnancy in the English Language Learners Dictionary

pregnancy

preg·nan·cy | \ ˈpreg-nən-sē

\

plural pregnancies

Kids Definition of pregnancy

: the state of being pregnant

pregnancy

preg·nan·cy | \ ˈpreg-nən-sē

\

plural pregnancies

Medical Definition of pregnancy

1 : the condition of being pregnant

2 : an instance of being pregnant

Keep scrolling for more

WORD OF THE DAY

rue

Listen to the pronunciation of rue

See Definitions and Examples »

Get Word of the Day daily email!

Test Your Vocabulary

Here Be Dragons: A Creature Identification Quiz

Which is a synonym of werewolf?

Can you spell these 10 commonly misspelled words?

Test Your Knowledge - and learn some interesting things along the way.