outgrowth

American  

[out-grohth] / ˈaʊtˌgroʊθ /

noun

1. a natural development, product, or result.

   to consider truancy an outgrowth of parental neglect.

2. an additional, supplementary result.

3. a growing out or forth.

4. something that grows out; offshoot; excrescence.

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outgrowth British  

/ ˈaʊtˌɡrəʊθ /

noun

1. a thing growing out of a main body

2. a development, result, or consequence

3. the act of growing out

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Etymology

Origin of outgrowth

First recorded in 1830–40; out- + growth

Example Sentences

The injured tissue produced substantial neurite outgrowth, meaning the long extensions that allow neurons to communicate began growing again.

From Science Daily • Feb. 16, 2026

Reiner resigned in 2006 as chairman of California’s First 5 commission, an outgrowth of Proposition 10, after Times reporting raised questions about the use of tax dollars to promote Proposition 82.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 15, 2025

These buyouts are absurd, an outgrowth of a crazed marketplace and undeniably screwy optics at a state university.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 4, 2025

Basically, the idea was to explore how LAB could be used to colonize a food environment in order to prevent the outgrowth of spoilage or pathogenic bacteria.

From Slate • Feb. 22, 2025

People, except Momma and Uncle Willie, accepted my unwillingness to talk as a natural outgrowth of a reluctant return to the South.

From "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou

Related Words

• by-product
• offshoot