sprout

verb

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\ ˈsprau̇t

sprouted; sprouting; sprouts

Definition of sprout

(Entry 1 of 2)

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

sprout

noun

Definition of sprout (Entry 2 of 2)

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

b sprouts plural

(1) chiefly British : brussels sprout sense 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 sense 1

Synonyms & Antonyms Example Sentences Phrases Containing sprout Learn More About sprout

Synonyms & Antonyms for sprout

Synonyms: Noun

bairn
[chiefly Scottish],
bambino,
bud,
chap
[Southern & Midland],
chick,
child,
cub,
juvenile,
kid,
kiddie
(also kiddy),
kiddo,
moppet,
sprat,
squirt,
whelp,
youngling,
youngster,
youth

Antonyms: Noun

Examples of sprout in a Sentence

Verb 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. Noun 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 See More

Recent Examples on the Web: Verb But over the next three decades, it would be contorted into the latest tax dodge in Silicon Valley, where new billionaires seem to sprout each week. — New York Times, 28 Dec. 2021 The pigtails seem to sprout the cotton bolls rising from plants behind them. — Los Angeles Times, 28 July 2021 DestinationDC, the city’s tourism bureau, expects 29 new properties to sprout in the next few years. — Andrew Nelson, WSJ, 8 Mar. 2022 Other projects continue to sprout up from M[A]B’s band members often, Washington said. — Anne Nickoloff, cleveland, 2 Mar. 2022 Under the collaboration, Orange Grove Bio, which also has a partnership with the University of Cincinnati, will support and advise emerging technologies that sprout from Cincinnati Children's Innovation Ventures team. — Brooks Sutherland, The Enquirer, 9 Mar. 2022 Apart from the development of 1,360 housing units Magna expects around the high school, Hull explained, there is still more land that could potentially sprout houses and businesses. — Alixel Cabrera, The Salt Lake Tribune, 12 Nov. 2021 As the spring goes on, new weeds will sprout from seeds buried in the soil. — Beth Botts, chicagotribune.com, 3 Apr. 2022 New ones would sprout, and by the next morning they’d be eaten down to their stems again. — oregonlive, 2 Apr. 2022 Recent Examples on the Web: Noun These beautiful blooms on the lake’s surface, known as frost flowers, sprout when the temperature drops quickly, causing a drastic difference between the cold air and the warmer ice surface. — Kathleen Rellihan, Outside Online, 14 May 2022 Some of these cacti, in fact, sprout flowers that have evolved to bloom at night just to attract bats. — Samanth Subramanian, Quartz, 3 May 2022 Great ideas usually start out small, sprout, and then begin to grow. — Joanne Kempinger Demski, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 17 Mar. 2022 Those occasional seeds dropped by birds around winter feeders sprout by themselves when warmer weather comes around. — Jeff Lowenfels, Anchorage Daily News, 10 Mar. 2022 As the story progresses, vines and flowers sprout from the walls and apples spill from the sky, bringing life and bounty into the sterile lab as the characters gradually overcome their personal hurdles to connect. — San Diego Union-Tribune, 7 Feb. 2022 The closet generates light and heat, crystals sprout from its corners and a houseplant mutates amid all the vibrations. — Peter Debruge, Variety, 24 Jan. 2022 Double green doors open into a courtyard, where plants and small trees sprout. — Washington Post, 7 Jan. 2022 But as innovation districts sprout across the country, America’s heartland is proving no slouch in luring resources, companies and technological infrastructure necessary to attract talent to their enclaves of ingenuity. — Jeffrey Steele, Forbes, 26 Dec. 2021 See More

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.