To expand; gain: The business grew under new owners.
To increase in amount or degree; intensify: The suspense grew.
To develop and reach maturity.
To be capable of growth; thrive: a plant that grows in shade.
To become attached by or as if by the process of growth: tree trunks that had grown together.
To come into existence from a source; spring up: love that grew from friendship.
To come to be by a gradual process or by degrees; become: grow angry; grow closer.
v.
tr.
To cause to grow; raise: grow tulips.
To allow (something) to develop or increase by a natural process: grow a beard.
Usage Problem To cause to increase or expand by concerted effort: strategies that grew the family business.
To develop so as to become: A boy grows into a man.
To develop or change so as to fit: She grew into her job. He grew into the relationship slowly.
To become gradually more evident to: A feeling of distrust grew on me.
To become gradually more pleasurable or acceptable to: a taste that grows on a person.
Phrasal Verb(s): grow into
To develop so as to become: A boy grows into a man.
To develop or change so as to fit: She grew into her job. He grew into the relationship slowly.
grow on/upon
To become gradually more evident to: A feeling of distrust grew on me.
To become gradually more pleasurable or acceptable to: a taste that grows on a person.
grow up
To become an adult.
Idiom(s):
grow out of
To develop or come into existence from: an article that grew out of a few scribbled notes.
[Middle English growen, from Old English grōwan; see ghrē- in Indo-European roots.]
grow'er n., grow'ing·ly adv.
Usage Note: Grow has been used since medieval times as an intransitive verb, as in Our business has been growing steadily for 10 years. It has been used with an object since the 18th century, meaning "to produce or cultivate," as in We grow corn in our garden. But the transitive use applied to business and nonliving things is quite new. It came into full bloom during the 1992 presidential election, when nearly all the candidates were concerned with "growing the economy." The Usage Panel is decidedly less fond of this development than business leaders and politicans are. Eighty percent of the Panel rejects the phrase grow our business. The Panel is more accepting of, though not enthusiastic about, the phrase grow our way, perhaps because of way's established use in expressions like make our way and find our way: 48 percent accept We've got to grow our way out of this recession. The Panel has no affection for the odd but occasionally heard phrase grow down: 98 percent reject If elected, I shall do my utmost to grow down the deficit.
O.E. growan (of plants) "to flourish, develop, get bigger" (class VII strong verb; past tense greow, pp. growen), from P.Gmc. *gro- (cf. O.N. groa, O.Fris. groia, Du. groeien, O.H.G. gruoen), from root of grass (q.v.). Applied in M.E. to human beings (c.1300) and animals (1435) and their parts, supplanting O.E. weaxan (see wax (v.)).
"Have you ever heard anything about God, Topsy? ... Do you know who made you?" "Nobody, as I knows on," said the child. ... "I spect I grow'd. Don't think nobody never made me." [Harriet B. Stowe, "Uncle Tom's Cabin," 1851]
Grown-up (adj.) "mature" is from 1633; the noun meaning "adult person" is from 1813. Growth is first attested 1557, on model of health, stealth, etc.
pass into a condition gradually, take on a specific property or attribute; become; "The weather turned nasty"; "She grew angry" [syn: turn]
2.
become larger, greater, or bigger; expand or gain; "The problem grew too large for me"; "Her business grew fast"
3.
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.
cause to grow or develop; "He grows vegetables in his backyard"
5.
develop and reach maturity; undergo maturation; "He matured fast"; "The child grew fast" [syn: mature]
6.
come into existence; take on form or shape; "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" [syn: originate]
7.
cultivate by growing, often involving improvements by means of agricultural techniques; "The Bordeaux region produces great red wines"; "They produce good ham in Parma"; "We grow wheat here"; "We raise hogs here"
8.
come to have or undergo a change of (physical features and attributes); "He grew a beard"; "The patient developed abdominal pains"; "I got funny spots all over my body"; "Well-developed breasts"
9.
grow emotionally or mature; "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" [syn: develop]
10.
become attached by or as if by the process of growth; "The tree trunks had grown together"
Grow\, v. i. [imp. Grew; p. p. Grown ; p. pr. & vb. n. {Growing.] [AS. grawan; akin to D. groeijen, Icel. groa, Dan. groe, Sw. gro. Cf. Green, Grass.]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. Growing cell, or Growing slide, a device for preserving alive a minute object in water continually renewed, in a manner to permit its growth to be watched under the microscope. Grown over, covered with a growth. To grow out of, to issue from, as plants from the soil, or as a branch from the main stem; to result from. These wars have grown out of commercial considerations. --A. Hamilton. To grow up, to arrive at full stature or maturity; as, grown up children. To grow together, to close and adhere; to become united by growth, as flesh or the bark of a tree severed. --Howells. Syn: To become; increase; enlarge; augment; improve; expand; extend.
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Audio Help [groh] Pronunciation Key verb, grew, grown, grow·ing. 
