sprout Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun any new growth of a plant such as a new branch or a bud
  2. noun a newly grown bud (especially from a germinating seed)
  3. verb produce buds, branches, or germinate
    shoot; bourgeon; spud; pullulate; burgeon forth; germinate.
    • the potatoes sprouted
  4. verb put forth and grow sprouts or shoots
    stock.
    • the plant sprouted early this year

WordNet

Sprout intransitive verb
Etymology
OE. sprouten, spruten; akin to OFries. sprta, AS. spreótan, D. spruiten, G. spriessen, Sw. spruta to squirt, to spout. Cf. Sprit, v. t. & v. i., Sprit a spar, Spout, v. t., Spurt.
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Sprouted; present participle & verbal noun Sprouting
Definitions
  1. To shoot, as the seed of a plant; to germinate; to push out new shoots; hence, to grow like shoots of plants.
  2. To shoot into ramifications. Obs. Bacon.
Sprout transitive verb
Definitions
  1. To cause to sprout; as, the rain will sprout the seed.
  2. To deprive of sprouts; as, to sprout potatoes.
Sprout noun
Etymology
Cf. AS. sprote a sprout, sprig; akin to Icel. sproti, G. sprosse. See Sprout, v. i.
Definitions
  1. The shoot of a plant; a shoot from the seed, from the stump, or from the root or tuber, of a plant or tree; more rarely, a shoot from the stem of a plant, or the end of a branch.
  2. pl. Young coleworts; Brussels sprouts. Johnson.

Webster 1913