baby farmingn.
/ˈbeɪbɪ fɑːmɪŋ/, U.S. /ˈbeɪbi ˌfɑrmɪŋ/ derogatory. Now historical.
The lodging and care of (typically unwanted) babies or young children for profit. Also: the action of leaving one's children at a baby farm.
ΘΚΠ
society > education > upbringing > [noun] > rearing children for profit
child-farming1849
baby farming1867
the world > action or operation > safety > protection or defence > care, protection, or charge > [noun] > care for or looking after > care of child or children > looking after children for profit
baby farming1867
1867 Pall Mall Gaz. 25 Sept. 1/2 (headline) Baby farming.
1868 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 21 Mar. 276/1 The inquiry has for its object the determination of the extent to which Baby-Farming (as distinguished from the practice of abortion) is carried on in London.
1870 Times 16 June 12/4 Two children..alleged to have been brought from a baby-farming establishment.
1878 W. S. Gilbert H.M.S. Pinafore ii. 31 I practised baby-farming.
1923 N.Z. Times 18 May 9 It was held..that the Crown Prosecutor..could bring evidence to prove systematic baby-farming on the part of both accused.
2002 S. Broder Tramps, Unfit Mothers, & Neglected Children 177 Baby farming was widely understood to be a means of abandoning an unwanted infant.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2011; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
baby farmingadj.
/ˈbeɪbɪ fɑːmɪŋ/, U.S. /ˈbeɪbi ˌfɑrmɪŋ/ derogatory. Now historical.
That practises baby farming. Also figurative.
ΘΚΠ
society > education > upbringing > [adjective] > rearing children for profit
baby farming1870
the world > action or operation > safety > protection or defence > care, protection, or charge > [adjective] > looking after > babies, for profit
baby farming1870
1870 Northern Echo 2 July 3/4 The adjourned inquest on the..alleged victims of the baby-farming women..was held yesterday.
1899 Green Bag Mar. 118/2 The sentence of death had also been passed on a Mrs. Dyer, a baby-farming murderess.
1907 W. T. Stead Peers or People ix. 149 The House of Lords is the great Baby Farming branch of our legislative establishment.
1997 J. Rawle Minnie Dean v. 44 People had read the account of the inquests and magistrate's court hearings in the papers. They knew about that notorious baby farming woman, Minnie Dean.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2011; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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n.1867adj.1870