sprout

[sprout] /spraʊt/
verb (used without object)
1.
to begin to grow; shoot forth, as a plant from a seed.
2.
(of a seed or plant) to put forth buds or shoots.
3.
to develop or grow quickly:
a boy awkwardly sprouting into manhood.
verb (used with object)
4.
to cause to sprout.
5.
to remove sprouts from:
Sprout and boil the potatoes.
noun
6.
a shoot of a plant.
7.
a new growth from a germinating seed, or from a rootstock, tuber, bud, or the like.
8.
something resembling or suggesting a sprout, as in growth.
9.
a young person; youth.
10.
sprouts.
  1. the young shoots of alfalfa, soybeans, etc., eaten as a raw vegetable.
  2. Brussels sprout.
Origin
1150-1200; (v.) Middle English spr(o)uten, Old English -sprūtan, in āsproten (past participle; see a-3); cognate with Middle Dutch sprūten, German spriessen to sprout; akin to Greek speírein to scatter; (noun) Middle English; compare Middle Dutch, Middle Low German sprute
Related forms
nonsprouting, adjective
resprout, verb
undersprout, noun
undersprout, verb (used without object)
unsprouted, adjective
unsprouting, adjective
Synonyms
1. spring, bud, burgeon, develop.
Examples from the web for sprout
  • Designed to sprout into an uncontrollable forest of destruction.
  • A commonly used alternative form is brussel sprout, whose plural is brussel sprouts.
British Dictionary definitions for sprout

sprout

/spraʊt/
verb
1.
(of a plant, seed, etc) to produce (new leaves, shoots, etc)
2.
(intransitive) often foll by up. to begin to grow or develop: new office blocks are sprouting up all over the city
noun
3.
a newly grown shoot or bud
4.
something that grows like a sprout
5.
See Brussels sprout
Word Origin
Old English sprūtan; related to Middle High German sprūzen to sprout, Lettish sprausties to jostle
Word Origin and History for sprout
v.

Old English -sprutan (in asprutan "to sprout"), from Proto-Germanic *spreutanan (cf. Old Saxon sprutan, Old Frisian spruta, Middle Dutch spruten, Old High German spriozan, German sprießen "to sprout"), from PIE root *sper- "to strew" (cf. Greek speirein "to scatter," spora "a scattering, sowing," sperma "sperm, seed," literally "that which is scattered;" Old English spreawlian "to sprawl," -sprædan "to spread," spreot "pole;" Armenian sprem "scatter;" Old Lithuanian sprainas "staring;" Lettish spriezu "I span, I measure"). Related: Sprouted; sprouting.

n.

"shoot of a plant, sprout; a twig," Old English sprota (see sprout (v.)).

Slang definitions & phrases for sprout

sprout

noun

A child, esp an infant: A girl out your way has married and is coming home with a sprout (1934+)