adjective
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(of a fetus) dead at birth
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(of an idea, plan, etc) fruitless; abortive; unsuccessful
noun
Etymology
Origin of stillborn
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
But in her last year of primary school, tragedy struck her family when her brother Alfie was stillborn and the young Ayla wrongly thought it was her fault.
From BBC
Two weeks before, unforgettably terribly, there had been a unicorn foal, pure gold, stillborn.
From Literature
Two horses were dead when he arrived, including a foal that appeared stillborn or miscarried.
From Los Angeles Times
The opening chorus of Act 2, in which the Puritans grieve over Elvira’s madness, features a woman giving birth to a stillborn baby in full view of the community.
As she was leaving the nurse gave her a box with the white rose petals inside and said she could put them on her stillborn son's grave.
From BBC
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
