Definition of "birthrate" [birthrate]

• The ratio of total live births to total population in a specified community or area over a specified period of time. The birthrate is often expressed as the number of live births per 1,000 of the population per year. Also called natality. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Nor does it explain why the birthrate is lower north of the Canadian border than south of it."
• "(The U.S. birthrate is 14 newborns per 1,000 people, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.)"
• "Meanwhile our birthrate is still frighteningly low, and several hundred thousand women of marriageable age have no chance of getting husbands."