stillbirth
part of speech
noun (a stillbirth, stillbirths)
meaning for a pupil
A stillbirth is when a baby has died before it is born, late in the mother's pregnancy, so it is born not alive. tree →
sense in the lessons
A sad word used by doctors, in health lessons and in news and family talk; it tells the reader about loss and grief in a family. People often speak of it gently. Related: stillborn (adjective), miscarriage (when a baby is lost earlier in pregnancy).
examples
- The family was very sad after the stillbirth of their baby. tree →
- Doctors work hard to make stillbirths rarer. tree →
- Good care for mothers can help prevent stillbirth. tree →
- They planted a tree to remember the baby lost in a stillbirth. tree →
- A stillbirth is a very sad event for any family. tree →
note
Countable: one stillbirth, several stillbirths. The adjective is «stillborn» (a stillborn baby). «Stillborn» can also describe a plan that fails before it starts (formal). A miscarriage happens earlier in pregnancy. This is a sad, serious word, so use it gently.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «stillbirth» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.