birth control

noun

1

: deliberate prevention of conception or impregnation (as by use of birth control pills, IUDs, condoms, coitus interruptus, vasectomy, or tubal ligation) : contraception sense 1

Male sterilization, known as vasectomy, is the only long-acting method of birth control available to men …

—Richard V. Reeves and Eleanor Krause

… the rise in use of fertility apps and period trackers suggests women are keen for a hormone-free form of birth control.

—Nicola Davis and Niamh McIntyre

—sometimes hyphenated before a noun

birth-control options

These clinics … provide all the birth-control methods for free.

—Robert Abbott

2

: devices or preparations designed to prevent conception

especially : devices or preparations (such as IUDs or birth control pills) that typically contain progestin either alone or in combination with estrogen and that prevent ovulation, thicken cervical mucus, or thin the uterine lining in order to prevent conception : contraception sense 2

Enabling pharmacists to prescribe birth control will improve access to this medication, especially in rural and underserved areas where access to reproductive health care is limited.

—The Newtown (Connecticut) Bee

see also birth control pill

Examples of birth control in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Take Oral Contraceptives Taking a daily dose of oral contraceptives (birth control pills) may help pores appear smaller by helping to decrease the hormones that can cause acne and facial oiliness.8 Oral contraceptives can take as little as one cycle (a month) to affect the skin. —Laura Schober, Health, 23 Jan. 2025

In the 1950s, a team of U.S. researchers exploited Puerto Rican women by testing birth control pills on them—without informing them that the drug was experimental. —Kristen Waggoner, Newsweek, 21 Jan. 2025

Artifacts include a mosquito net, HIV drugs, supplements from earlier this century and a pack of Ortho-Novum birth control pills, circa 1963. —Roger Catlin, Smithsonian Magazine, 15 Jan. 2025

Supporters of the plan say expanding coverage for birth control gives residents more autonomy over their reproductive health. —Arpan Lobo, Detroit Free Press, 11 Dec. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1876, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

birth control

noun

1

: control of the number of births especially by preventing or lessening the occurrence of conception

2

: devices or preparations used to prevent pregnancy

Medical Definition

birth control

noun

1

: deliberate prevention of conception or impregnation (as by use of birth control pills, IUDs, condoms, coitus interruptus, vasectomy, or tubal ligation) : contraception sense 1

… after careful consideration of the various types of birth control available, a woman may choose a diaphragm (see diaphragm sense 3) as her major method of pregnancy protection. … It is not necessary for her to rethink all of the birth control options every time she has sex.

—James Jaccard et al., New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development

—sometimes hyphenated when used before another noun

… family planning services through programs such as Medicaid and Title X, which have been critical in reducing costs and expanding access for low-income women to the birth-control method of their choice.

—Cecile Richards, The New England Journal of Medicine

2

: devices or preparations designed to prevent conception

especially : devices or preparations (such as IUDs or birth control pills) that typically contain progestin either alone or in combination with estrogen and that stop ovulation, thicken cervical mucus, or thin the uterine lining in order to prevent conception : contraception sense 2

For women of many identities, oral birth control represents an affordable, non-invasive, and effective means of family planning.

—Susannah Iles, Michigan Journal of Gender and Law

see also birth control pill