*womb*

n. [ OE. wombe, wambe, AS. wamb, womb; akin to D. wam belly, OS. & OHG. wamba, G. wamme, wampe, Icel. vömb, Sw. våmb, Dan. vom, Goth. wamba. ] 1. The belly; the abdomen. [ Obs. ] Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

And he coveted to fill his woman of the cods that the hogs eat, and no man gave him. Wyclif (Luke xv. 16). [ 1913 Webster ]

An I had but a belly of any indifferency, I were simply the most active fellow in Europe. My womb, my womb, my womb undoes me. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Anat.) The uterus. See Uterus. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. The place where anything is generated or produced. [ 1913 Webster ]

The womb of earth the genial seed receives. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Any cavity containing and enveloping anything. [ 1913 Webster ]

The center spike of gold
Which burns deep in the bluebell's womb. R. Browning. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To inclose in a womb, or as in a womb; to breed or hold in secret. [ Obs. ] Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ From the native name, womback, wombach, in Australia. ] (Zool.) Any one of three species of Australian burrowing marsupials of the genus Phascolomys, especially the common species (Phascolomys ursinus). They are nocturnal in their habits, and feed mostly on roots. [ 1913 Webster ]