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Showing results for birth control. Search instead for birth+control.
Synonyms

birth control

American  
[burth kuhn-trohl] / ˈbɜrθ kənˌtroʊl /

noun

  1. regulation of the number of children born through the deliberate control or prevention of conception.

    She campaigned and went to prison for the right of women to practice birth control.

  2. a drug, technique, or device used to deliberately control or prevent conception (often used attributively).

    Diaphragms were a common form of birth control long before the invention of contraceptive pills.

    Vasectomies are growing in frequency as a birth control method in many countries.
birth control British  

noun

  1. limitation of child-bearing by means of contraception See also family planning

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
birth control Scientific  

  1. Planned interference with conception in order to control the number of offspring born. Birth control techniques include drugs containing hormones, the diaphragm, and the intrauterine device.

birth control Cultural  

  1. The practice of preventing conception to limit the number of births. (See contraception, family planning, population control, and Margaret Sanger.)

Other Word Forms

  • probirth-control adjective

Etymology

Origin of birth control

First recorded in 1905–10; popularized in 1914 by Margaret Sanger ( def. )

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The family rose to fame via “19 Kids and Counting,” a long-running TLC reality series about a fundamentalist Christian family who homeschooled their children and disavowed birth control and kissing before marriage.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 1, 2026

For example, during a 40-minute panel hosted by Alexis Joel, the wife of musician Billy Joel, several doctors raised concerns about how frequently hormonal birth control is used to treat women’s health symptoms.

From Salon • Mar. 19, 2026

On Evie, a reader can scroll from “7 Iced Starbuck Dupes With a Fraction of the Calories” to meditations on the health risks of hormonal birth control and vaccines that skirt any of the benefits.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 18, 2026

The finding could improve infertility treatments and support the development of safe, nonhormonal male birth control options.

From Science Daily • Feb. 14, 2026

I came in late, repeatedly and with the flimsiest of excuses; made shockingly incorrect change; even misshelved things on purpose, stocking lotions among laxatives and birth control with baby shampoo.

From "Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children" by Ransom Riggs

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.