sprout

[ sprout ]

verb (used without object)

1. to begin to grow; shoot forth, as a plant from a seed.

   Synonyms: develop, burgeon, bud, spring

2. (of a seed or plant) to put forth buds or shoots.
3. to develop or grow quickly:

   a boy awkwardly sprouting into manhood.

verb (used with object)

1. to cause to sprout.
2. to remove sprouts from:

   Sprout and boil the potatoes.

noun

1. a shoot of a plant.
2. a new growth from a germinating seed, or from a rootstock, tuber, bud, or the like.
3. something resembling or suggesting a sprout, as in growth.
4. a young person; youth.
5. sprouts,
   1. the young shoots of alfalfa, soybeans, etc., eaten as a raw vegetable.
   2. Brussels sprout.

sprout

/ spraʊt /

verb

1. (of a plant, seed, etc) to produce (new leaves, shoots, etc)
2. introften foll byup to begin to grow or develop

   new office blocks are sprouting up all over the city

noun

1. a newly grown shoot or bud
2. something that grows like a sprout
3. See Brussels sprout

Other Words From

• non·sprouting adjective
• re·sprout verb
• under·sprout noun
• under·sprout verb (used without object)
• un·sprouted adjective
• un·sprouting adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of sprout¹

1150–1200; (v.) Middle English spr ( o ) uten, Old English -sprūtan, in āsproten (past participle; a- ³ ); cognate with Middle Dutch sprūten, German spriessen to sprout; akin to Greek speírein to scatter; (noun) Middle English; compare Middle Dutch, Middle Low German sprute

Word History and Origins

Origin of sprout¹

Old English sprūtan; related to Middle High German sprūzen to sprout, Lettish sprausties to jostle

Example Sentences

Often, in spite of its spoiled political terrain, L.A., like the bird of paradise, found a way to sprout.

From Los Angeles Times

Cutler isn’t one for overt psychoanalysis, but the choice to sprout the narrative in Edward Kostyra’s iron-fisted influence as opposed to featuring Stewart’s mother, a beloved recurring guest on her syndicated daytime show, is eye-opening.

From Salon

Margolyes, who played Professor Sprout in the wizarding series, recalled a time when she was absent from filming, as she had finished her role on the show.

From BBC

D’Antonio suspects that rodents, accustomed to dining on an abundance of invasive grass seeds, gobbled up most of the native seeds before they could sprout.

From Los Angeles Times

When you drive over Red Mountain out of the urban core with its reminders of steelmaking and jazz, of Martin Luther King Jr. and the Negro Leagues, away from streets where shabbily dressed men push wheeled contrivances, where pride flags fly and breweries sprout, where drag queens coexist with affirming churches, you enter a different world.

From Salon

Related Words

• burgeon
• germinate
• grow