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Definition of proliferate
proliferated
;proliferating
intransitive verb
1 : to grow by rapid production of new parts, cells, buds, or offspring
2 : to increase in number as if by proliferating : multiply
transitive verb
1 : to cause to grow by proliferating
2 : to cause to increase in number or extent as if by proliferating
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proliferate was our Word of the Day on 03/11/2009. Hear the podcast!
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Examples of proliferate in a Sentence
rumors about the incident proliferated on the Internet
Recent Examples of proliferate from the Web
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Boca would be one of at least six South Florida cities to create a law aimed at boosting access to the technology as the charging stations continue to proliferate.
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In March, the city of San Diego—where residents of neighborhoods like Ocean Beach have decried the loss of local identity as rentals have proliferated—had to move a meeting on STRs to a bigger venue because of overflow crowds.
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Hill's lab has focused on a different bad actor: overproduction of IL-6, which causes Th17 cells to proliferate.
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That is why the NCAA’s knee-jerk response is to fight anything that might help betting proliferate.
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The last time nominal wages fell was the mid-1990s when oil industry jobs were falling and big-box stores like K-Mart were proliferating.
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The defections proliferated after Congress' nonpartisan budget referee said the measure would leave 22 million more people uninsured by 2026 than President Barack Obama's law.
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As the illness progresses, gut tissue becomes increasingly inflamed and often starts to die, which can, in turn, rupture the intestine and flood the abdominal cavity with pathogenic microbes that proliferate to dangerous levels.
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Throughout the Cold War, nuclear weapons proliferated in pop culture.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'proliferate.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Did You Know?
Proliferate came about in 1873 as a back-formation of "proliferation." That means that "proliferation" came first (we borrowed it from French in the 1850s) and was later shortened to form the verb "proliferate." Ultimately these terms come from Latin. The French adjective prolifère ("reproducing freely") comes from the Latin noun proles and the Latin combining form "-fer." Proles means "offspring" or "descendants," and -fer means "bearing." Both of these Latin forms gave rise to numerous other English words. "Prolific" and "proletarian" ultimately come from "proles"; "aquifer" and words ending in "-ferous" have their roots in "-fer."
Origin and Etymology of proliferate
back-formation from proliferation, from French prolifération, from proliférer to proliferate, from prolifère reproducing freely, from Latin proles + -fer -ferous
Other Biology Terms
PROLIFERATE Defined for English Language Learners
proliferate
playDefinition of proliferate for English Language Learners
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: to increase in number or amount quickly
Medical Dictionary
proliferate
playMedical Definition of proliferate
proliferated
;proliferating
intransitive verb
: to grow by rapid production of new parts, cells, buds, or offspringtransitive verb
: to cause to grow by proliferating
Learn More about proliferate
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See words that rhyme with proliferate Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for proliferate Spanish Central: Translation of proliferate Nglish: Translation of proliferate for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of proliferate for Arabic speakers
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