spawn

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

Synonyms of spawn

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

Examples of spawn in a Sentence

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

Recent Examples on the Web

The risk is elevated by the hottest days of the year so far, and the storms have the potential to do significant damage and spawn multiple tornadoes. —Laura Bannon, CBS News, 10 June 2026

The Circle was one of Netflix’s first hits in the reality competition space and spawned versions in France and Brazil. —Peter White, Deadline, 10 June 2026

They were captured sharing a post-Super Bowl kiss on the field after the Chiefs’ 2024 Super Bowl win, a moment that spawned images seen only in blockbuster rom-coms, and Kelce made a surprise cameo on stage at one of Swift’s Eras Tour shows in London later that year. —Alli Rosenbloom, CNN Money, 9 June 2026

The movie went on to spawn two sequels, and Fox cemented his status as a young actor to watch. —Rebecca Aizin, PEOPLE, 9 June 2026

Word History

Etymology

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

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at intransitive 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