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stillborn

[ stil-bawrn ]

adjective

  1. dead when born. bear. born.
  2. ineffectual from the beginning; abortive; fruitless:

    a stillborn plan of escape.



stillborn

/ ˈstɪlˌbɔːn /

adjective

  1. (of a fetus) dead at birth
  2. (of an idea, plan, etc) fruitless; abortive; unsuccessful
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012


noun

  1. a stillborn fetus or baby
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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Word History and Origins

Origin of stillborn1

First recorded in 1590–1600; still 1 + born
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Example Sentences

Unable to survive the damage to the placenta, many babies were stillborn.

In the wilds of Kenya, elephant researcher Joyce Poole says she watched as one refused to leave the body of her stillborn calf for two days.

From Time

According to animal experts, it is not uncommon for cheetahs to have stillborn cubs.

Sukiri ate her two stillborn cubs, which is “not unusual for a carnivore and in line with wild female cheetah behavior as a dead cub invites predators,” officials said in a statement.

Hospitals used to whisk stillborn babies away from their parents, but they now recognize the importance of memories in grieving.

From Fortune

Another baby, stillborn, Huntsman told police, was also found.

After all, it was stillborn, never getting a chance to move from idea into action.

One day… Jenna Petro Antigo, Wisconsin Our baby, Amy, was stillborn 32 years ago, and we still think of her every day.

Anonymous Our daughter, Alyson, was stillborn at full term with no indication of any problems in 2008.

Her roommate had had a stillborn baby and my mother felt sad for her.

She is the mother of a stillborn child, whose body is to be thrown in the river.

Your thoughts now struggle for birth, but are fated to die stillborn, while the foe laughs you in the face.

The fire department died stillborn; but the police force promptly asserted itself.

Mary was born in 1516 and survived, but all the children who came afterwards were either stillborn or died in early infancy.

Webber did his best to rise to this embryonic flirtation, but it died stillborn in nods and smiles for want of an interpreter.

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