PREGNANCY

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does pregnancy mean? 

• PREGNANCY (noun)
  The noun PREGNANCY has 1 sense:

1. the state of being pregnant; the period from conception to birth when a woman carries a developing fetus in her uterus

  Familiarity information: PREGNANCY used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• PREGNANCY (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The state of being pregnant; the period from conception to birth when a woman carries a developing fetus in her uterus

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Synonyms:

gestation; maternity; pregnancy

Hypernyms ("pregnancy" is a kind of...):

physical condition; physiological condition; physiological state (the condition or state of the body or bodily functions)

Meronyms (parts of "pregnancy"):

morning sickness (nausea early in the day; a characteristic symptom in the early months of pregnancy)

childbed; confinement; labor; labour; lying-in; parturiency; travail (concluding state of pregnancy; from the onset of contractions to the birth of a child)

quickening (the stage of pregnancy at which the mother first feels the movements of the fetus)

cleavage; segmentation ((embryology) the repeated division of a fertilised ovum)

Domain member category:

endometrium ((pregnancy) the mucous membrane that lines the uterus; thickens under hormonal control and (if pregnancy does not occur) is shed in menstruation; if pregnancy occurs it is shed along with the placenta at parturition)

stretch mark (a narrow band resulting from tension on the skin (as on abdominal skin after pregnancy))

amnio; amniocentesis ((pregnancy) extraction by centesis of amniotic fluid from a pregnant woman (after the 15th week of pregnancy) to aid in the diagnosis of fetal abnormalities)

phlebothrombosis; venous thrombosis (thrombosis of a vein without prior inflammation of the vein; associated with sluggish blood flow (as in prolonged bedrest or pregnancy or surgery) or with rapid coagulation of the blood)

fetal movement; foetal movement (motion of a fetus within the uterus (usually detected by the 16th week of pregnancy))

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "pregnancy"):

trouble (an unwanted pregnancy)

gravidation; gravidity; gravidness (technical terms for pregnancy)

gravida (the number of the pregnancy that a woman is in)

para; parity ((obstetrics) the number of liveborn children a woman has delivered)

eccyesis; ectopic gestation; ectopic pregnancy; extrauterine gestation; extrauterine pregnancy; metacyesis (pregnancy resulting from gestation elsewhere than in the uterus)

entopic pregnancy (pregnancy resulting from normal gestation in the uterus)

placenta previa (pregnancy in which the placenta is implanted in the lower part of the uterus (instead of the upper part); can cause bleeding late in pregnancy; delivery by cesarean section may be necessary)

Derivation:

pregnant (carrying developing offspring within the body or being about to produce new life)

 Context examples 

A rare neural tube defect during pregnancy, resulting in the absence of a large portion of the brain and skull in the fetus.

(Anencephaly, NCI Thesaurus)

Many studies have shown that the risk of SIDS is increased by maternal smoking during pregnancy.

(Combined prenatal smoking and drinking greatly increases SIDS risk, National Institutes of Health)

They concluded that spending more time conducting physical activity of moderate–vigorous intensity may help modulate these immunometabolic responses during the early stages of pregnancy in ‘healthy’ pregnant women.

(A new study highlights the importance of undertaking physical activity of moderate–vigorous intensity during the early weeks of pregnancy, University of Granada)

During pregnancy the atypical melanocytic changes may appear more prominent.

(Atypical Melanocytic Nevus of the Genital Type, NCI Thesaurus)

You might have a big expense you never saw coming, and it would relate to a check you need to write on behalf of a child (or a pregnancy).

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

Most birth defects happen during the first 3 months of pregnancy.

(Birth Defects, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

That’s why, overall, fetuses do not grow sufficiently during pregnancy when the mother is older compared to when she is young, said Dr Napso.

(Placenta changes could mean male offspring of older mums more likely to develop heart problems in later life, University of Cambridge)

They may not be safe during pregnancy.

(Medicines, NIH)

Every month, your body prepares for pregnancy.

(Menstruation, NIH: National Institute of Child Health and Human Development)

Women in the study had earlier responded to a questionnaire indicating whether they had taken a supplement containing folic acid in the second and third trimesters of pregnancy.

(New study suggests high lead levels during pregnancy linked to child obesity, National Institutes of Health)