spawn

1 of 2

verb

ˈspȯn How to pronounce spawn (audio)
ˈspän
spawned; spawning; spawns

intransitive verb

1
: to deposit or fertilize spawn
2
: to produce young especially in large numbers

transitive verb

1
a
: to produce or deposit (eggs)
used of an aquatic animal
b
: to induce (fish) to spawn
c
: to plant with mushroom spawn
2
: bring forth, generate
the idea spawned controversy
spawner noun

spawn

2 of 2

noun

1
: the eggs of aquatic animals (such as fishes or oysters) that lay many small eggs
2
: product, offspring
also : offspring in great numbers
3
: the seed, germ, or source of something
4
: mycelium especially prepared (as in bricks) for propagating mushrooms

Examples of spawn in a Sentence

Verb The health-food craze spawned a multimillion-dollar industry. the incident that spawned a generation of student protests a TV show that spawned a host of imitations Noun Pacific salmon return to Alaskan streams to deposit their spawn. sometimes I think those little brats are the spawn of Satan himself
Recent Examples on the Web
Verb
Less than two months after the removal of dams restored a free-flowing Klamath River, salmon have made their way upstream to begin spawning and have been spotted in Oregon for the first time in more than a century. Ian James, Los Angeles Times, 19 Oct. 2024 Some monsters, like aliens or vampires, are widespread enough to spawn their own subgenres and thus aren't included here. Katie Rife, EW.com, 18 Oct. 2024
Noun
Whether the government follows through remains to be seen, but Davyd is also concerned the huge scale of the gigs will take more money away from the venues that helped spawn acts like Oasis. Mark Sutherland, Variety, 3 Sep. 2024 And although the team didn’t look at other fish for this study, Feiner believes other fish that spawn in the spring, like perch, muskie, pike and bass, are likely experiencing the same timing troubles. Caitlin Looby, Journal Sentinel, 11 June 2024 See all Example Sentences for spawn 

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'spawn.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Verb

Middle English, from Anglo-French espandre to spread out, shed, scatter, spawn, from Latin expandere to expand

First Known Use

Verb

15th century, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense 1

Noun

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of spawn was in the 15th century

Dictionary Entries Near spawn

Cite this Entry

“Spawn.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/spawn. Accessed 31 Oct. 2024.

Kids Definition

spawn

1 of 2 verb
ˈspȯn How to pronounce spawn (audio)
ˈspän
1
: to deposit or fertilize eggs
fish swimming upstream to spawn
2
: to produce young especially in large numbers
3
spawner noun

spawn

2 of 2 noun
1
: the eggs of aquatic animals (as fishes or oysters) that lay many small eggs
2
: product sense 2, offspring
also : something produced in large quantities

More from Merriam-Webster on spawn

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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