Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A person, usually a woman, who is trained to assist women in childbirth. Also called regionally granny, granny woman.
- n. One who assists in or takes a part in bringing about a result: "In the Renaissance, artists and writers start to serve as midwives of fame” ( Carlin Romano).
- v. To assist in the birth of (a baby).
- v. To assist in bringing forth or about: "Washington's efforts to midwife a Mideast settlement” ( Newsweek).
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A woman who assists women in childbirth.
- To perform the office of midwife.
- To assist in childbirth.
- To aid in bringing into being by acting the part of a midwife; assist in bringing to light.
Wiktionary
- n. A person, usually a woman, who is trained to assist women in childbirth, but who is not a physician.
- n. rare, figuratively Someone who assists in bringing about some result or project.
- v. transitive To act as a midwife
- v. transitive, figuratively to facilitate the emergence of
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. A woman who assists other women in childbirth; a female practitioner of the obstetric art.
- v. To assist in childbirth.
- v. To perform the office of midwife.
WordNet 3.0
- n. a woman skilled in aiding the delivery of babies
Etymologies
- From Old English, corresponding to mid ("with") + wīf ("woman"). (Wiktionary)
- Middle English midwif : probably mid, with (from Old English) + wif, woman (from Old English wīf). (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“Mr. MO ROCCA (Contributor, "CBS Sunday Morning"): Get your baby delivered by a midwife from the cast of "Star Trek.”
“After the midwife is bitten by a rattle snake, she asks Dr. Quinn to look after her three children.”
“When I called my midwife, she reassured me and said I should expect contractions to start soon.”
“My midwife is prescribing me some pain killers, but I probably will avoid taking them since they usually make me really sick to my stomach.”
“I honestly think that we are still working on many feminists to realize that fighting for my right to birth with a midwife is just as important as their right to terminate their pregnancy.”
How Sarah Palin will push reproductive justice to the next level
“In the morning we called our midwife and doula and arranged to meet them at the freestanding birth center where we planned to have a natural, drug-free water birth.”
Simon & Schuster: Our Bodies, Ourselves: Pregnancy and Birth
“If your doctor or midwife is not, perhaps you can find a different one.”
“Our insurance will pay for it so long as the midwife is licensed!”
“When we returned home, David suggested I call my midwife to let her know that I might be needing her before very long.”
“With a towel between my legs, I called my midwife, jumped in the car, and headed to the hospital, where my lovely five-pound daughter Chiara was delivered by cesarean section.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘midwife’.
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LIT - Ulysses - key words and phrases
vanish, number one, archangel, commodious, dominie, rubble, glisten, morose, spindle, ventilation, Blessed, christian and 503 more...
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RELI - Genesis
Protagonists and relevant words in the Book of Creation (Source: King James Bible)
Laban, circumcise, beget, Esau, Rebekah, speckle, Sodom, Pharaoh, Canaanite, Canaan, Jacob, Lot and 1286 more...
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RELI - words with Biblical connotations
Words in the Bible evoking biblical stories or with special spiritual meaning. Proper names have been reduced to the minimum.
ark, judgement, holy, saint, baptism, spirit, love, eternal, altar, balsam, covenant, flood and 1115 more...
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INTERP - sexist language
Problematic and recommended terms according to the EP's guide on gender neutral language use
writer, waitress, waiter, usher, mayor, head, chair, staff, nurse, actor, gender-neutral la..., biased and 103 more...
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Wives
alewife, fishwife, midwife, kalewife, goodwife, housewife, oldwife, old wives' tale, wife, wives, husband and wife, man and wife and 16 more...
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big book gre
abase, abbess, abbey, abbot, abdicate, abdomen, abdominal, abduction, abed, aberration, abet, abeyance and 6691 more...
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Most of the Nouns from Joanna Newsom'...
meadowlark, sparrow, spree, pharoah, pharisees, comb, meadow, pines, marrow, bones, birches, spires and 95 more...
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jiggskc's list
what i am collecting here is as many words that appeal to me as i can find, for the purpose of collecting them, and remembering them - in hopes that they will appear in my writings.
homoousious, heresy, manuscript, midwife, palindrome, madam, anabaptist, mennonite
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NTDW1
template, modal, sublingual, tandem, polycentric, septuagenarian, token, irrevocable, denotive, augural, aberrant, phlebotomy and 1188 more...
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A spoonful of sugar
Words I should learn/I want to learn/I just learned, with a quotation to help the medicine go down.
approbation, assuage, chicanery, abscond, effrontery, enervation, equivocate, ennui, aftertaste, filibuster, perfunctory, abide and 391 more...
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Pregnant with Possibilities (Includin...
For double the fun, see also Congenital Conditions.
obstetrics, obstetrician, neonatology, neonatologist, isolette, postpartum, prepartum, puerperal fever, induce, pregnancy, episiotomy, meconium and 324 more...
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He was a verray, parfit gentil knyght
my favourite era
feudal, peasant, vassal, serf, medieval, fief, chivalry, yeoman, joust, primogeniture, wimple, abbey and 56 more...
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Torah Words
Cool Torah words, entered throughout the year as I go week to week, parshah to parshah, starting with Vayeishev (Gen 37:10-40:23). The English will vary translation to translation, so I am using th...
harlot, sojournings, sheaves, prostrating, pasturing, pit, beast, devoured, caravan, kid, sackcloth, chamberlain and 12 more...
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midwifery words
Words related to midwifery
birth, midwife, heart, soul, body, love, time, energy, choice, movement, massage, care and 45 more...
Tweets
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