(~s)
Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English.
1.
When a baby is born, you refer to this event as his or her ~.
It was the ~ of his grandchildren which gave him greatest pleasure...
She weighed 5lb 7oz at ~.
...premature ~s.
N-VAR
2.
You can refer to the beginning or origin of something as its ~.
...the ~ of popular democracy.
N-UNCOUNT: with poss
3.
Some people talk about a person’s ~ when they are referring to the social position of the person’s family.
...men of low ~...
His ~, background and career show that you can make it in this country on merit alone.
N-UNCOUNT: usu supp N
4.
see also date of ~ , home ~
5.
If, for example, you are French by ~, you are French because your parents are French, or because you were born in France.
Sadrudin was an Iranian by ~.
PHRASE: adj/n PHR
6.
When a woman gives ~, she produces a baby from her body.
She’s just given ~ to a baby girl...
PHRASE: V inflects
7.
To give ~ to something such as an idea means to cause it to start to exist.
In 1980, strikes at the Lenin shipyards gave ~ to the Solidarity trade union.
PHRASE: V inflects
8.
The country, town, or village of your ~ is the place where you were born.
PHRASE: n PHR