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proliferate

American  
[pruh-lif-uh-reyt] / prəˈlɪf əˌreɪt /

verb (used with or without object)

proliferated, proliferating

  1. to grow or produce by multiplication of parts, as in budding or cell division, or by procreation.

  2. to increase in number or spread rapidly and often excessively.

proliferate British  
/ prəˈlɪfəˌreɪt /

verb

  1. to grow or reproduce (new parts, cells, etc) rapidly

  2. to grow or increase or cause to grow or increase rapidly

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

  • proliferative adjective

Etymology

Origin of proliferate

First recorded in 1870–75; prolifer(ous) + -ate 1

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.