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
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
These examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
illustrate current usage. Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of
Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback
about these examples.
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
Dictionary Entries Near birth pang
Cite this Entry
“Birth pang.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/birth%20pang. Accessed 14 Nov. 2024.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share