after-pain
(ˈɑːftəˌpeɪn, æ-)
[after- 7.]
1. A pain which follows later.
| a 1556 Cranmer Wks. II. 182 Although it be pardoned, yet after-pains thereof continue so long as we live. a 1624 Sir N. Breton in Farr S.P. (1845) I. 196 That bitter smart That inward breeds of pleasures after-paine. |
2. esp. (in pl.) The pains that follow childbirth. Also fig.
| 1667 Decay of Chr. Piety v. §11. 229 The throes and after⁓pains of conscience when sin is brought forth. 1751 Chambers Cycl. s.v., After-pains are pains felt in the loin, the groin, etc. after the birth. 1754–64 Smellie Midwifery I. 400 Women in the first child seldom have after-pains. 1857 Bullock tr. Cazeaux, Midwifery 491 The after-pains are occasioned by the contraction of the womb. |