sprout
Americanverb (used without object)
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sprouts,
present (3rd person singular)
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sprouted,
past participle, past
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sprouting
present participle
verb (used with object)
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sprouts,
present (3rd person singular)
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sprouted,
past participle, past
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sprouting
present participle
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to cause to sprout.
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to remove sprouts from.
Sprout and boil the potatoes.
noun
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sprouts
plural
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a shoot of a plant.
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a new growth from a germinating seed, or from a rootstock, tuber, bud, or the like.
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something resembling or suggesting a sprout, as in growth.
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a young person; youth.
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sprouts,
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the young shoots of alfalfa, soybeans, etc., eaten as a raw vegetable.
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verb
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(of a plant, seed, etc) to produce (new leaves, shoots, etc)
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to begin to grow or develop
new office blocks are sprouting up all over the city
noun
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a newly grown shoot or bud
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something that grows like a sprout
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See Brussels sprout
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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undersproutnoun
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resproutverb
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undersproutverb (used without object)
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nonsproutingadjective
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unsproutedadjective
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unsproutingadjective
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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sproutsimple
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sproutssimple
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have sproutedperfect
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has sproutedperfect
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am sproutingprogressive
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are sproutingprogressive
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is sproutingprogressive
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have been sproutingperfect progressive
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has been sproutingperfect progressive
Past
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sproutedsimple
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had sproutedperfect
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was sproutingprogressive
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were sproutingprogressive
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had been sproutingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of sprout
1150–1200; (v.) Middle English spr ( o ) uten, Old English -sprūtan, in āsproten (past participle; see a- 3); cognate with Middle Dutch sprūten, German spriessen to sprout; akin to Greek speírein to scatter; (noun) Middle English; compare Middle Dutch, Middle Low German sprute
Explanation
A sprout is a small growth on a plant — a little new bud. Other things can sprout too: kids are constantly sprouting (growing). The key thing to think of when you're trying to remember the meaning of sprout is growth — as a noun, a sprout is a new growth of a plant, and as a verb, to sprout means to grow. Sprouting mainly applies to height and to the young, whether you're talking about plants, people, or things. An older person who gains fifty pounds is growing but not sprouting.
Vocabulary lists containing sprout
Bud, Not Buddy
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Seedfolks
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Old Yeller
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Recalling where certain plants sprout first in the spring can help hungry animals find important nutrients.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 29, 2026
The Buck Moon, which was named after the time male deer sprout new antlers, will rise on 29 July.
From BBC ● Jun. 29, 2026
When her first order, a kale and brussels sprout salad, arrived, she said she was shocked at how big it was.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 17, 2026
The cinema is a place where new ideas sprout and beliefs are forged.
From Salon ● Apr. 9, 2026
Jo’s book was the pride of her heart, and was regarded by her family as a literary sprout of great promise.
From "Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott
Inside more than a dozen North American plants, some 20,000 employees run machines that cut, wash and package raw vegetables like cauliflower and Brussels sprouts, or assemble veggie snack kits.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 18, 2026
The fields of Eshtiwi show only the first faint signs of growth in June, with small green sprouts emerging around the village.
From Barron's ● Jul. 1, 2026
Like every year, Tehran’s Tajrish Square was crammed with stalls piled high with hyacinth, garlic and sprouts, while some featured mini-pools holding tiny goldfish, all traditional elements of the haft-sin.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 24, 2026
One example is a multipaneled sketch that shows what happens when you drop a seed and watch it grow in stages, first when it sprouts and then when leaves come out.
From MarketWatch ● Mar. 16, 2026
A pinch of the precious salt and a few bean sprouts filled her with energy for a while, but it wore off.
From "A Girl Named Disaster" by Nancy Farmer
Fans marched to last Thursday’s afternoon game with Qatar wearing Canadian flags draped over their shoulders and headdresses that sprouted small maple leafs.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 23, 2026
In the shade beneath the fading giant, a seedling had sprouted.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 19, 2026
Other factories sprouted, making such products as door hinges and coffee pots.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 6, 2026
Surveillance software sprouted in every cranny of the ballpark, first in service of providing more data for teams and front offices to pore over, then as fuel for ever more esoteric betting propositions.
From Salon ● Apr. 13, 2026
In the following springtime animals were drawn to the young plants that sprouted.
From "An Indigenous People’s History of the United States" by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz
Dozens of the black and blue pillars have been sprayed since they began sprouting earlier this year.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026
This struggle is exactly why so many social clubs have been sprouting up in L.A. over the last few years.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 23, 2026
Images of seabirds, fish, and sprouting maize appear together on textiles, ceramics, pottery, wall carvings and paintings.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 7, 2026
Only raccoons are said to live in the Karlshorst buildings and birch saplings are sprouting out of a balcony.
From Barron's ● Feb. 8, 2026
The shiny people faced him, sprouting twin smiles.
From "The Last Last-Day-of-Summer" by Lamar Giles
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
