noun
abortion
uh-BAWR-shn
noun
1
The deliberate ending of a pregnancy before the foetus can survive on its own.
"She travelled to another city to have an abortion."
"The clinic offers counselling before and after an abortion."
2
A pregnancy that ends naturally and too early to produce a surviving baby; a miscarriage.
"The vet suspected the mare had suffered a spontaneous abortion."
3
The failure or collapse of a plan, project, or process partway through.
"Budget cuts led to the abortion of the entire research programme."
How to Use Abortion
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishEnding a pregnancy before birth, either on purpose (a medical procedure) or naturally (a miscarriage) — context usually makes clear which.
When to use it
A sensitive, often politically charged topic; medical and legal writing use it neutrally, but tone matters a lot in everyday conversation.
Common pairings
have an abortion
abortion rights
spontaneous abortion
Word Forms
abortions plural
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She travelled to another city to have an _____.
Etymology
From Latin abortio, "miscarriage," built from the verb aborior, "to fail to be born" or "to miscarry" — the same root gives us "abort."