in a family way

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English

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Prepositional phrase

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in a family way

  1. (euphemistic) Alternative form of in the family way.
    • 1855 August 25, “Law Intelligence: Supreme Court—Special Term”, in New York Times, page 8:
      She mentioned that she was in a family way and . . . stated that she needed all her money to pay the doctor's bills at the approaching deliverance.
    • 1947 November 10, “Dear TIME-Reader”, in Time, retrieved 11 Aug. 2008:
      Her way of paying for these gift subscriptions was to choose one of her sows which was in a family way and, when the sow littered, to sell its offspring.
    • 2005 April 15, Carolyn See, "Squab and Squabbles" (book review of Mothers and Sons by Paul Hond), Washington Post, p. C03 (retrieved 11 Aug. 2008):
      Three pregnancies occur in this novel: Nina, Fran and Danielle all find themselves in a family way.
  2. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see family,‎ way.

Synonyms

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Translations

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References

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