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to sprout

to sprout

68 2.0
To begin to grow new shoots or leaves
  • verb
  • /spraʊt/
translation icon : germinar
  • It was exciting to watch the beans sprout and grow taller each day.
  • sprout from seeds
  • sprout shoots
  • sprout new shoots

And it's almost like the seed wants to sprout in any environment.

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Examples

  • Four, six, even eight powered rotors sprouted like a forest on airframes.

    Academic text (2003)
  • And that's because when you see these things sprout, the seeds are small.

  • You know, there are, there are home grown companies that are trying to sprout up here to make these films.

  • Yet another idea is that a new universe can sprout from within any black hole in our universe.

    Academic text (2002)
  • They decide when it's time to sprout, some sprout early and some sprout later.

  • Why, that town'll sprout into a city of maybe four or five thousand folks.

  • The town's almost abandoned downtown retail district began to sprout Hispanic shops and restaurants.

    Academic text (2003)
  • If it's too dry, seeds will sprout and then they'll wither and die.

  • In a truly happy ending, their newly planted garden sprouted and blossomed beautifully.

    Academic text (1997)
  • The address was downtown in one of the skyscrapers that keep sprouting around the Embarcadero.

    Fiction book (1991)

Synonyms

to burgeon
vsto sprout
28 7.6

To grow or increase very quickly

describes starting growth without the specific sense of rapid flourishing
to shoot
vsto sprout
16 2.8

To begin to grow new stems or buds from a plant

is the general term for starting plant growth or producing new growth
to bud
vsto sprout
11 1.0

To start to grow as a new shoot on a plant

refers more broadly to beginning growth or producing new growth not only swellings
to germinate
vsto sprout
10 4.8

To begin to grow from a seed or spore

applies to starting growth broadly, not only causing seeds to begin
to begin to sprout
vsto sprout
1 3.2

To start growing, usually of plants or seeds

is the shorter single verb form without the auxiliary phrase
to outshoot
vsto sprout
  • Specialized
6.5

To grow small new stems or branches from a plant

is more general, meaning the start of growth not limited to branches
to bourgeon
vsto sprout
9.9

To start to grow quickly, often by forming buds

indicates starting growth but without the same strong rapid flourish
to burgeon forth
vsto sprout
7.8

To begin to grow quickly, often as new shoots or leaves

means starting growth but lacks the sense of quick, vigorous expansion
to begin to mushroom
vsto sprout
4.7

Start to grow or spread very quickly across an area

means beginning growth in a neutral way, not implying dramatic rapid expansion

Antonyms

324 3.6

To stop or come to an end

19 6.8

To stop growing or changing and stay the same, like water in a pond

Phrasal Verbs

To start growing, usually of plants or seeds

Compounds

A small green vegetable like a tiny cabbage

4 1.8

A young thin shoot from a bean eaten as a vegetable

1 4.2

A young plant grown from alfalfa seed and eaten raw in salads or sandwiches

How Developed

to flourish
116 4.1
to grow
1.0
to shoot
16 2.8
to sprout
68 2.0
to emerge
249 3.5
to appear
873 1.0

Surface Forms

sprout infinitive
sprouted past
sprouted past participle
sprouting present participle
sprouts third person singular

Etymology

Sprout as a verb comes from the same old word for a young shoot, so to sprout is to 'begin to grow' or to send up new shoots from a seed or bulb.