spawn

1 of 2

verb

ˈspȯn 

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

Synonyms of spawn

Verb

• create
• cause
• generate
• bring
• produce
• prompt
• do

Noun

• offspring

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

Salmon also suffered, partly because drought had affected inland rivers, where Chinook and Coho migrate to spawn, eggs hatch, and salmon fry swim back downstream to the ocean. — Susanne Rust follow, Los Angeles Times, 29 July 2026

The soaking system will be spawned by a pocket of energy that fired up severe thunderstorms in parts of the Great Lakes and Ohio Valley on Monday. — Briana Waxman, CNN Money, 27 July 2026

Noun

The premise is that the children of iconic Disney movie characters all live in the same world, with the spawn of villains having to make their own way in spite of their families' misdeeds. — K. Thor Jensen, PC Magazine, 17 July 2026

While grunion spawn on many beaches in Southern California, the CDFW doesn’t recommend a particular beach to view grunion runs due to local curfews and changing safety conditions. — Paris Barraza, USA Today, 14 July 2026

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

Rhymes for spawn

• aune
• bon
• bonne
• brawn
• chon
• con
• conn
• crohn
• dawn
• drawn
• fawn
• gone

Kids Definition

spawn

1 of 2 verb

ˈspȯn 

ˈspän

1

: to deposit or fertilize eggs

fish swimming upstream to spawn

2

: to produce young especially in large numbers

3

: generate, bring forth

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