birth pang

noun

1

: one of the regularly recurrent pains that are characteristic of childbirth

—usually used in plural

2

birth pangs plural : disorder and distress incident especially to a major social change

Examples of birth pang in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Such monstrosities, we were told, were merely the birth pangs of a new and mostly peaceful nation. —Mark R. Weaver, Newsweek, 4 Dec. 2024

And the Affordable Care Act, for all of its birth pangs and flaws and the Republican efforts to repeal it, remains the law of the land. —Peter Baker, New York Times, 22 Mar. 2024

But for Chollet, as for Obama, this apparent defect is actually a strength, and the current world disorder is less the result of flawed U.S. strategies than the birth pangs of a new and better order. —Derek Chollet, Foreign Affairs, 10 Aug. 2016

His knack for conveying compositional struggle ingeniously reflects his theme — a nation’s birth pangs. —Sebastian Smee, Washington Post, 24 Jan. 2020

Word History

First Known Use

1660, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Medical Definition

birth pang

noun

: one of the regularly recurrent pains that are characteristic of childbirth

—usually used in plural