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Definition of "birthright" []

  • A right, possession, or privilege that is one's due by birth. See Synonyms at right. (noun)
  • A special privilege accorded a firstborn. (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.

Use "birthright" in a sentence
  • "DEAL: Well, the United States is in a small minority of countries in the world that continue to grant what we call birthright citizenship, and that is, to grant citizenship to a child regardless of the legal status of the parents."
  • "There were valid arguments on both sides, but generally the race-blind believers in birthright made a better case: that ten of the thirteen original states allowed free black men to vote; that Americans of African descent had been recognized as citizens by the federal government in various ways (even Andrew Jackson had hailed his free black soldiers as "fellow citizens" after the Battle of New Orleans)."
  • "Perhaps they will need more than some mere railings outside No. 10 to resist the righteous anger of the British people whose birthright is so casually being stolen."