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birth

   Also found in: Dictionary/thesaurus, Medical, Legal, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia, Hutchinson 0.02 sec.
give birth to someone or something 
1. Lit. to have a child; [for an animal] to bring forth young. She gave birth to a baby girl. The cat gave birth to a large number of adorable kittens.
2. Fig. to bring forth a new idea, an invention, a nation, etc. The company gave birth to a new technology. The basic idea of participatory democracy gave birth to a new nation.
See also: give

strangle something at birth
to stop something at an early stage of its development Plans to provide better nursery care are being strangled at birth by lack of funding.

give birth to something
to cause or be the origin of something The popularity of the car eventually gave birth to the interstate highways.
Related vocabulary: give rise to something
Etymology: based on the literal meaning of give birth (to have a baby)
See also: give


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