sprout

verb \ ˈsprau̇t \

|Updated on: 21 Jun 2018

Examples: sprout in a Sentence

sprouted; sprouting; sprouts

intransitive verb

1 : to grow, spring up, or come forth as or as if a sprout

2 : to send out new growth

transitive verb

: to send forth or up : cause to develop : grow

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See sprout defined for kids

Examples of sprout in a Sentence

seeds sprouting in the spring
Potatoes will sprout in the bag if kept in a warm place.
The garden is sprouting weeds.
The tree is already sprouting leaves.
He sprouted a beard since the last time I saw him.
She dreamed that her boss had sprouted horns.
Hair sprouted on his face.

Recent Examples of sprout from the Web

But the closer the tournament draws, the more doubts seem to sprout.

— jonathan wilson, SI.com, "As Neymar Returns for World Cup, Brazil Faces Pressing Questions Regarding Its Star," 5 June 2018
Photography by Aurélien Aumond In a series of photographs by French lensman Aurélien Aumond, strange, futuristic buildings appear to sprout up from an expanse of grass, like relics of a past-future era.

— lauren ro, Curbed, "Futuroscope is the wicked-cool theme park you’ve never heard of," 30 May 2018
Entire new districts for the arts and nightlife seemed to sprout overnight.

— Bloomberg.com, "Bloomberg," 18 May 2018
There were a few plot lines resolved in a neat bow, a few left dangling like loose threads in the wind, and a few that are mere seeds that will probably be ready to sprout during season three.

— jessica macleish, Teen Vogue, "Questions "Riverdale" Needs to Answer in Season 3," 17 May 2018
In North Carolina's Currituck County, where two projects have been placed on 2,260 acres of farm land, neighbors complained about noise and dust during construction and poor maintenance that allowed weeds to sprout among the solar panels.

— hal bernton, The Christian Science Monitor, "Solar panel proposal faces opposition in Washington State," 7 May 2018
Check the garden daily; don't let the soil dry out as seeds are trying to sprout.

— debbie arrington, sacbee, "Want summer veggies? Get to work | The Sacramento Bee," 5 May 2018
Car museums tend to sprout in or near the cities where autoworkers once toiled, places such as Kalamazoo, Lansing and Ypsilanti.

— jay jones, chicagotribune.com, "Motor to Michigan for a vintage-auto-inspired road trip to these 3 museums," 30 Apr. 2018
The real beast here may well be the AUMF itself, which seems to sprout new heads for whatever military adventure subsequent presidents want to put it to.

— mattathias schwartz, The New Republic, "The Case Against John Doe, American Jihadist," 19 Apr. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'sprout.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of sprout

Middle English spruten, from Old English -sprūtan; akin to Old High German spriozan to sprout, Lithuanian sprausti to squeeze, thrust

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 13th century

in the meaning defined at intransitive sense 1

See Words from the same year

Other Botany Terms

annual, burgeon, chloroplast, nomenclature, succulent, sylvan, xylem

sprout

noun

1 a : shoot 1a; especially : a young shoot (as from a seed or root)

b sprouts plural

(1) chiefly British : brussels sprout 2

(2) : edible sprouts especially from recently germinated seeds (as of alfalfa or mung beans)

2 : something resembling a sprout: such as

a : a young person

b : scion 2

See sprout defined for English-language learners

Examples of sprout in a Sentence

he earned the admiration of the neighborhood sprouts when he showed them how to make a slingshot
the raspberry bushes began sending out sprouts in early spring