birther

English

Alternative forms

  • Birther

Etymology

From birth + -er (agent noun suffix) or + -er (supporter).

Pronunciation

  • (General American) IPA(key): /ˈbɝθɚ/
  • (file)

Noun

birther (plural birthers)

  1. (rare) One who gives birth.
    • 1951, Erico Verissimo, Time and the Wind, volume 2, page 583:
      [] she couldn't be an "easy birther."
    • 1998, January 22, Paper Disputes Claims of Oldest Brit to Deliver, page C2:
      Liz Buttle, Britain's oldest birther, lied about not taking fertility drugs and didn't conceive her 2-month-old boy in the usual way as she insisted.
  2. (slang, derogatory, US politics) A believer in the conspiracy theory that Barack Obama, 44th president of the United States (2009–2017), was not born in that country, and therefore ineligible for the presidency under the United States Constitution (Article II, Section 1).
    • 2008, December 8, “Jay Bookman”, in 'Shut up about the birth certificate':
      I confess I do have some sympathy for the "birthers," though. As an outsider, it's hard to distinguish between the zany arguments that get official approval by the conservative establishment --- things like Bill Ayers, Michelle Obama's infamous "whitey" tape, the claim that Obama is a closet Marxist --- and those arguments that are considered beyond the pale.
    • 2009 August 7, Paul Krugman, “The Town Hall Mob”, in New York Times:
      Senator Dick Durbin has suggested that the birthers and the health care protesters are one and the same; we don’t know how many of the protesters are birthers, but it wouldn’t be surprising if it’s a substantial fraction.
    • 2010, September 29, “Mark Benjamin”, in What Islamophobia really threatens:
      Earlier this month, columnist and birther Frank Gaffney, Rep. Pete Hoekstra, R-Mich., the ranking Republican on the Intelligence Committee, and others held a news conference on Capitol Hill to release a report on Muslim religious law entitled "Shariah: The Threat to America."
  3. (slang, derogatory, US politics) More generally, anyone who questions the eligibility of a candidate for office based on the candidate's citizenship status.
    • 2020, August 13, “Franco Ordoñez”, in NPR:
      Trump And His Campaign Amplify 'Birther' Conspiracy Against Kamala Harris
    • 2020 August 13, Daniel Dale; Holmes Lybrand; Tara Subramaniam, CNN:
      On Thursday, he started floating a new birther lie about Sen. Kamala Harris, who, if elected, would be the first Black and Asian American vice president.

Synonyms

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

birther (third-person singular simple present birthers, present participle birthering, simple past and past participle birthered)

  1. (slang, derogatory, US politics) To question the eligibility of a candidate for office or the location of one's birth.
    • 2020, Andrew Solender, “'He Wasn't Born Here': Trump Birthers Biden Near Scranton Ahead Of DNC Acceptance Speech”, in Forbes:

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