proliferate

• POS: Verb (usu participle)
• HYPHEN: pro=lif=er=ate

CIDE DICTIONARY

proliferate, v. t. [L. proles offspring + ferre to bear.].

•  To produce or form cells; especially, to produce cells rapidly.  [1913 Webster]
•  To produce zooids by budding.  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

proliferate, v.
1 intr. reproduce; increase rapidly in numbers; grow by multiplication.
2 tr. produce (cells etc.) rapidly.

Derivative

proliferation n. proliferative adj.

Etymology

back-form. f. proliferation f. F prolif{eacute}ration f. prolif{egrave}re (as PROLIFEROUS)

THESAURUS

proliferate

abound, accrue, accumulate, advance, appreciate, balloon, be fruitful, be productive, beget, bloat, boom, breed, breed true, bristle with, broaden, burgeon, copulate, crawl with, creep with, crescendo, crossbreed, develop, engender, exuberate, father, flow, fructify, gain, gain strength, generate, get, get ahead, go up, grow, gush, inbreed, increase, intensify, make love, mother, mount, multiply, mushroom, outbreed, overflow, pour, procreate, propagate, pullulate, rain, reproduce, reproduce in kind, rise, run over, run up, shoot up, shower, sire, snowball, spread, stream, strengthen, swarm with, swell, teem, teem with, wax, widen