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spawn

 - 4 dictionary results

spawn

  [spawn] ,
Use spawn in a Sentence
–noun
1. Zoology. the mass of eggs deposited by fishes, amphibians, mollusks, crustaceans, etc.
2. Mycology. the mycelium of mushrooms, esp. of the species grown for the market.
3. a swarming brood; numerous progeny.
4. (used with a singular or plural verb) any person or thing regarded as the offspring of some stock, idea, etc.
–verb (used without object)
5. to deposit eggs or sperm directly into the water, as fishes.
–verb (used with object)
6. to produce (spawn).
7. to give birth to; give rise to: His sudden disappearance spawned many rumors.
8. to produce in large number.
9. to plant with mycelium.
Origin:
1350–1400; ME spawnen (v.), prob. < AF espaundre (OF espandre) to expand

Related forms:
spawner, noun

Synonyms:
7. engender, generate, yield, beget.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To spawn
spawn   (spôn)   
n.  

  1. The eggs of aquatic animals such as bivalve mollusks, fishes, and amphibians.

  2. Offspring occurring in numbers; brood.

  3. A person who is the issue of a parent or family.

  4. The source of something; a germ or seed.

  5. A product or an outcome.

  6. Mycelia of mushrooms or other fungi grown in specially prepared organic matter for planting in beds.

v.   spawned, spawn·ing, spawns

v.   intr.

  1. To deposit eggs; produce spawn.

  2. To produce offspring in large numbers.

v.   tr.

  1. To produce or deposit (spawn).

  2. To produce in large numbers.

  3. To give rise to; engender: tyranny that spawned revolt.

  4. To cause to spawn; bring forth; produce: a family that had spawned a monster.

  5. To plant with mycelia grown in specially prepared organic matter.


[Middle English spawne, from spawnen, to spawn, from Anglo-Norman espaundre, from Latin expandere; see expand.]
spawn'er n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

spawn  (v.)
1413, from Anglo-Fr. espaundre, O.Fr. espandre "to spread out, pour out," from L. expandere (see expand). The notion is of a "spreading out" of fish eggs released in water. The meaning "to engender, give rise to" is attested from 1594. The noun is first recorded c.1430; fig. sense of "brood, offspring" is from 1590.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Computing Dictionary

spawn operating system
To create a child process in a multitasking operating system. E.g. Unix's fork system call or one of the spawn() library routines provided by most MS-DOS, Novell NetWare and OS/2 C compilers - spawnl(), spawnle(), etc.
(1995-03-28)

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © 1993-2007 Denis Howe
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