grow Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. verb pass into a condition gradually, take on a specific property or attribute; become
    turn.
    • The weather turned nasty
    • She grew angry
  2. verb become larger, greater, or bigger; expand or gain
    • The problem grew too large for me
    • Her business grew fast
  3. verb increase in size by natural process
    • Corn doesn't grow here
    • In these forests, mushrooms grow under the trees
    • her hair doesn't grow much anymore
  4. verb cause to grow or develop
    • He grows vegetables in his backyard
  5. verb develop and reach maturity; undergo maturation
    maturate; mature.
    • He matured fast
    • The child grew fast
  6. verb come into existence; take on form or shape
    originate; develop; rise; uprise; spring up; arise.
    • A new religious movement originated in that country
    • a love that sprang up from friendship
    • the idea for the book grew out of a short story
    • An interesting phenomenon uprose
  7. verb cultivate by growing, often involving improvements by means of agricultural techniques
    farm; produce; raise.
    • The Bordeaux region produces great red wines
    • They produce good ham in Parma
    • We grow wheat here
    • We raise hogs here
  8. verb come to have or undergo a change of (physical features and attributes)
    acquire; produce; develop; get.
    • He grew a beard
    • The patient developed abdominal pains
    • I got funny spots all over my body
    • Well-developed breasts
  9. verb grow emotionally or mature
    develop.
    • The child developed beautifully in her new kindergarten
    • When he spent a summer at camp, the boy grew noticeably and no longer showed some of his old adolescent behavior
  10. verb become attached by or as if by the process of growth
    • The tree trunks had grown together

WordNet

Grow intransitive verb
Etymology
AS. grawan; akin to D. groeijen, Icel. groa, Dan. groe, Sw. gro. Cf. Green, Grass.
Wordforms
imperfect Grew ; past participle Grown ; present participle & verbal noun Growing
Definitions
  1. To increase in size by a natural and organic process; to increase in bulk by the gradual assimilation of new matter into the living organism; -- said of animals and vegetables and their organs.
  2. To increase in any way; to become larger and stronger; to be augmented; to advance; to extend; to wax; to accrue.
    Winter began to grow fast on. Knolles.
    Even just the sum that I do owe to you Is growing to me by Antipholus. Shak.
  3. To spring up and come to matturity in a natural way; to be produced by vegetation; to thrive; to flourish; as, rice grows in warm countries.
    Where law faileth, error groweth. Gower.
  4. To pass from one state to another; to result as an effect from a cause; to become; as, to grow pale.
    For his mind Had grown Suspicion's sanctuary. Byron.
  5. To become attached of fixed; to adhere.
    Our knees shall kneel till to the ground they grow. Shak.
    These wars have grown out of commercial considerations. A. Hamilton.
    -- Syn. -- To become; increase; enlarge; augment; improve; expand; extend.
Grow transitive verb
Definitions
  1. To cause to grow; to cultivate; to produce; as, to grow a crop; to grow wheat, hops, or tobacco. Macaulay. Syn. -- To raise; to cultivate. See Raise, v. t., 3.

Webster 1913