in the family way
Word Rarity
Common
Frequency: Zipf frequency 5.49 in modern English
31
Scrabble Score
14
Letters
5
Syllables
11
Unique Chars
Meaning
prep_phrase
Example Sentences
- "However, after they had lived in this way for some time, Mrs Leeson, to her own surprise and that of everybody else, found herself in the family way, and was brought to bed of as lovely a little boy as eyes ever looked upon."
- "Back on the veranda he said to Lace gravely, "I do believe that poor child's in the family way." Lace, tracing the pattern of the matting with his boot, husked, and murmured, "Yes — I think so."
- "[…]he tenderly whispered, 'Now, my sweet, don't you worry because I was careful and got off at Haymarket every time, so I did.' This remark meant nothing to Kate but to others in Leith who were acquainted with the facts of life it meant that Hugh had been careful not to go full steam ahead into Waverley and therefore put her in the family way."