Word Study
grow
CIDE DICTIONARY
- To increase in size by a natural and organic process; to increase in bulk by the gradual assimilation of new matter into the living organism; -- said of animals and vegetables and their organs. [1913 Webster]
- To increase in any way; to become larger and stronger; to be augmented; to advance; to extend; to wax; to accrue. [1913 Webster]"Winter began to grow fast on." [1913 Webster]"Even just the sum that I do owe to you
Is growing to me by Antipholus." [1913 Webster] - To spring up and come to maturity in a natural way; to be produced by vegetation; to thrive; to flourish; as, rice grows in warm countries. [1913 Webster]"Where law faileth, error groweth." [1913 Webster]
- To pass from one state to another; to result as an effect from a cause; to become; as, to grow pale. [1913 Webster]"For his mind
Had grown Suspicion's sanctuary." [1913 Webster] - To become attached or fixed; to adhere. [1913 Webster]"Our knees shall kneel till to the ground they grow." [1913 Webster]"These wars have grown out of commercial considerations."
Syn. -- To become; increase; enlarge; augment; improve; expand; extend.
grow, v. t.
To cause to grow; to cultivate; to produce; as, to grow a crop; to grow wheat, hops, or tobacco. Macaulay.
Syn. -- To raise; to cultivate. See Raise, v. t. , 3.
OXFORD DICTIONARY
grow, v. (past grew; past part. grown)
1 intr. increase in size, height, quantity, degree, or in any way regarded as measurable (e.g. authority or reputation) (often foll. by in: grew in stature).
2 intr. a develop or exist as a living plant or natural product. b develop in a specific way or direction (began to grow sideways). c germinate, sprout; spring up.
3 intr. be produced; come naturally into existence; arise.
4 intr. (as grown adj.) fully matured; adult.
5 intr. a become gradually (grow rich; grow less). b (foll. by to + infin.) come by degrees (grew to like it).
6 intr. (foll. by into) a become, having grown or developed (the acorn has grown into a tall oak; will grow into a fine athlete). b become large enough for or suited to (will grow into the coat; grew into her new job).
7 intr. (foll. by on) become gradually more favoured by.
8 tr. a produce (plants, fruit, wood, etc.) by cultivation. b bring forth. c cause (a beard etc.) to develop.
9 tr. (in passive; foll. by over, up) be covered with a growth.
1 intr. increase in size, height, quantity, degree, or in any way regarded as measurable (e.g. authority or reputation) (often foll. by in: grew in stature).
2 intr. a develop or exist as a living plant or natural product. b develop in a specific way or direction (began to grow sideways). c germinate, sprout; spring up.
3 intr. be produced; come naturally into existence; arise.
4 intr. (as grown adj.) fully matured; adult.
5 intr. a become gradually (grow rich; grow less). b (foll. by to + infin.) come by degrees (grew to like it).
6 intr. (foll. by into) a become, having grown or developed (the acorn has grown into a tall oak; will grow into a fine athlete). b become large enough for or suited to (will grow into the coat; grew into her new job).
7 intr. (foll. by on) become gradually more favoured by.
8 tr. a produce (plants, fruit, wood, etc.) by cultivation. b bring forth. c cause (a beard etc.) to develop.
9 tr. (in passive; foll. by over, up) be covered with a growth.
Idiom
growing bag a bag containing peat-based potting compost in which plants may be grown. growing pains
1 early difficulties in the development of an enterprise etc.
2 neuralgic pain in children's legs due to fatigue etc. grown-up adj. adult.
--n. an adult person. grow out of
1 become too large to wear (a garment).
2 become too mature to retain (a childish habit etc.).
3 be the result or development of. grow together coalesce.
grow up
1 a advance to maturity. b (esp. in imper.) begin to behave sensibly.
2 (of a custom) arise, become common.
1 early difficulties in the development of an enterprise etc.
2 neuralgic pain in children's legs due to fatigue etc. grown-up adj. adult.
--n. an adult person. grow out of
1 become too large to wear (a garment).
2 become too mature to retain (a childish habit etc.).
3 be the result or development of. grow together coalesce.
grow up
1 a advance to maturity. b (esp. in imper.) begin to behave sensibly.
2 (of a custom) arise, become common.
Derivative
growable adj.
Etymology
OE growan f. Gmc, rel. to GRASS, GREEN
THESAURUS
grow
accrue, accumulate, advance, age, appreciate, arise, attain majority, balloon, be changed, be converted into, bear fruit, become, bloat, bloom, blossom, boom, breed, brew, broaden, bud, burgeon, burst forth, care for, carve, chisel, come, come of age, come over, come to be, come to maturity, convert, crescendo, crop, cultivate, culture, develop, dryfarm, enlarge, evolute, evolve, expand, extract, farm, fatten, feed, fledge, flourish, flower, foster, fructify, gain, gain strength, garden, gather, gemmate, germinate, get, get ahead, get to be, go, go up, grow rank, grow up, harvest, hatch, hypertrophy, increase, intensify, issue, keep, leaf, leaf out, leave, leave the nest, lengthen, luxuriate, machine, maturate, mature, mellow, mill, mine, mount, multiply, mushroom, nurse, nurture, originate, outgrow, overdevelop, overgrow, overrun, overtop, plant, process, procreate, produce, progress, proliferate, propagate, prosper, pullulate, pump, put forth, put forth leaves, put out buds, raise, ranch, reach manhood, reach twenty-one, reach voting age, rear, refine, reproduce, riot, ripe, ripen, rise, rise up, root, run, run up, season, settle down, sharecrop, shoot, shoot up, smelt, snowball, sow, spread, spring up, sprout, sprout up, stem, strengthen, strike root, swell, take root, temper, tend, thicken, thrive, toga virilis, tower, turn, turn into, upgrow, uprise, upshoot, upspear, upspring, upsprout, vegetate, wax, widenROGET THESAURUS
grow
Increase
VB increase, augment, add to, enlarge, dilate, grow, wax, get ahead, gain strength, advance, run up, shoot up, rise, ascend, sprout, aggrandize, raise, exalt, deepen, heighten, strengthen, intensify, enhance, magnify, redouble, aggravate, exaggerate, exasperate, exacerbate, add fuel to the flame, oleum addere camino, superadd, spread.Conversion
VB be converted into, become, get, wax, come to, turn to, turn into, evolve into, develop into, turn out, lapse, shift, run into, fall into, pass into, slide into, glide into, grow into, ripen into, open into, resolve itself into, settle into, merge into, emerge as, melt, grow, come round to, mature, mellow, assume the form of, assume the shape of, assume the state of, assume the nature of, assume the character of, illapse, begin a new phase, assume a new phase, undergo a change, convert into, resolve into, make, render, mold, form, remodel, new model, refound, reform, reorganize, assimilate to, bring to, reduce to.Expansion
VB become larger &c (large), expand, widen, enlarge, extend, grow, increase, incrassate, swell, gather, fill out, deploy, take open order, dilate, stretch, distend, spread, mantle, wax, grow up, spring up, bud, bourgeon, shoot, sprout, germinate, put forth, vegetate, pullulate, open, burst forth, gain flesh, gather flesh, outgrow, spread like wildfire, overrun, be larger than, surpass, render larger &c (large), expand, spread, extend, aggrandize, distend, develop, amplify, spread out, widen, magnify, rarefy, inflate, puff, blow up, stuff, pad, cram, exaggerate, fatten.For further exploring for "grow" in Webster Dictionary Online
