as in fruit
the descendants of a person, animal, or plant
the racehorse's offspring all proved to be very good racers as well the couple celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary surrounded by three generations of offspring
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Recent Examples of offspring
An analysis of the recordings showed that the parents behaved aggressively toward the divers more often when the human interlopers were staring at the offspring or the parent, compared with when the diver was looking in another direction or completely turned away.
—
Gennaro Tomma, Scientific American, 17 Mar. 2026
Colossal’s researchers use it to alter the DNA of living animals so offspring express traits associated with their extinct relatives.
—Hanna Wickes, Charlotte Observer, 16 Mar. 2026
For the dire wolf project, scientists edited 14 out of roughly 19,000 genes in gray wolf DNA to produce hybrid offspring with traits associated with dire wolves — lighter fur color, larger size and greater cold resistance.
—Hanna Wickes, Miami Herald, 16 Mar. 2026
Expert help is recommended because a mom, if cornered, likely will defend her offspring.
—Arricca Elin Sansone, Southern Living, 16 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for offspring
Gennaro Tomma, Scientific American, 17 Mar. 2026
Colossal’s researchers use it to alter the DNA of living animals so offspring express traits associated with their extinct relatives.
—Hanna Wickes, Charlotte Observer, 16 Mar. 2026
For the dire wolf project, scientists edited 14 out of roughly 19,000 genes in gray wolf DNA to produce hybrid offspring with traits associated with dire wolves — lighter fur color, larger size and greater cold resistance.
—Hanna Wickes, Miami Herald, 16 Mar. 2026
Expert help is recommended because a mom, if cornered, likely will defend her offspring.
—Arricca Elin Sansone, Southern Living, 16 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for offspring
Recent Examples of Synonyms for offspring
Noun
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Most, if not all, of the vegetables, fruits, flowers and other starts in the nursery are sourced from California or somewhere in the West Coast.—
Camila Pedrosa,
Sacbee.com,
27 Mar. 2026
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This focus on their past appeals to the story’s lowest hanging fruit, which is its sense of incipient tragedy, the foreclosure of the possibility for happiness.—
Rafaela Bassili,
Vulture,
27 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Moustache joined my plump tortoiseshell Toffee, the progeny of frisky barn cats, an elderly rabbit rescued from neglect, and my best friend Bacon, a good dog adopted from Lifeline Puppy Rescue years before.—
Krista Kafer,
Denver Post,
27 Mar. 2026
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Caldwell’s own progeny made up no small part of that explosion (his son and several of his grandchildren have competed in the Olympics), and at Vermont’s Putney School Caldwell coached America’s first cross-country superstar, Bill Koch, who won an Olympic medal in 1976.—
Bill McKibben,
New Yorker,
24 Mar. 2026
Noun
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When Michigan coach Kim Barnes Arico had each of her players bring in a quote that resonates with them, sophomore guard Olivia Olson provided one that truly encapsulates the Wolverines heading into the only women's NCAA Tournament regional final matching the top two seeds.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
30 Mar. 2026
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The Heat essentially needed to sweep the league’s tankers this season because of its poor 22-29 record against teams with top 10 seeds.—
Barry Jackson,
Miami Herald,
30 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Families The resort is for adults only (children aged over 16 are welcome).—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
28 Mar. 2026
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Others spent decades behind bars, leaving their children without mothers or fathers.—
Zayd Ayers Dohrn,
New Yorker,
28 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Advice columnist Carolyn Hax takes your comments and questions most Fridays about life, family, relationships and more.—
Carolyn Hax,
Washington Post,
27 Mar. 2026
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In an email sent to families on Tuesday afternoon, the Park Hill School District identified Walker as the woman killed in the crash that left four other teenagers injured.—
Caroline Zimmerman,
Kansas City Star,
25 Mar. 2026
Noun
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The album’s name, Arirang, pays tribute to a treasured Korean folk ballad of the same name, which was famously the country’s first song, sung by Korean men, ever recorded (it was preserved for posterity by American ethnologist Alice Fletcher in 1896).—
Nicole Fell,
HollywoodReporter,
21 Mar. 2026
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These brave souls forged new frontiers for nation-states and planted the right flag for posterity.—
S.C. Stuart,
PC Magazine,
18 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Offspring.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/offspring. Accessed 30 Mar. 2026.
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