growth factor

noun

: a substance (such as a vitamin B₁₂ or an interleukin) that promotes growth and especially cellular growth

Examples of growth factor in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

First popularized in sports medicine to aid in injury healing, PRP is rich in growth factors such as VEGF, PDGF, IGF-1, and EGF—biological agents that can stimulate angiogenesis, stromal remodeling, tissue repair, and cellular renewal. —Matt Emma, USA Today, 11 Dec. 2025

Important innovations will include everything from regenerative medicine’s ongoing discoveries in tissue engineering for organ repair and grafts to peptide and growth factor technologies. —Jenny B. Fine, Footwear News, 18 Nov. 2025

This uses growth factors, ingredients that effectively help skin cells act younger and function more efficiently, to make that happen. —Deanna Pai, Vogue, 27 Oct. 2025

The medications block the action of a protein called vascular endothelial growth factor, or VEGF, that promotes blood vessel growth, including the development of abnormal blood vessels in the retina that threaten a person’s sight. —Liz Szabo, Scientific American, 14 Oct. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1926, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for growth factor

• attractor
• cofactor
• compactor
• contactor
• contractor
• distractor
• extractor
• impactor
• protractor
• reactor
• redactor
• refractor

Medical Definition

growth factor

noun

: a substance (as a vitamin B₁₂ or an interleukin) that promotes growth and especially cellular growth