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:
Sometimes the seeds of discontent get planted early, only to sprout with the turn of the seasons.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 7, 2026
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 - named after the time male deer sprout new antlers - will rise on 29 July.
From BBC ● Jun. 28, 2026
Here, inside of a tightly symmetrical structure, Giotto places the followers of Jesus speaking in tongues—flames sprout from their heads—while onlookers, separated by a low wall, view the scene with bafflement.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 11, 2026
Seven watered the tiny sprout that was her opal-haworthia plant and sighed.
From "Witchlings" by Claribel A. Ortega
"Bracken sprouts almost immediately because its rhizomes sit deep in the soil, so the burn layer wouldn't maybe have impacted those" she said.
From BBC ● Sep. 13, 2026
For the gardeners: At first, they look like unassuming sprouts.
From Slate ● Sep. 11, 2026
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday urged consumers not to eat alfalfa sprouts grown by Everything Sprouts and sold under the Calco and Everything Sprouts brands.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 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
And when Roz studied the ground, she spotted tiny green sprouts trying to take root.
From "The Wild Robot Protects" by Peter Brown
England will want to build on the green shoots of recovery that sprouted in Leeds.
From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2026
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
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
Others have flocked to civil-defense groups, which have sprouted up in cities around Taiwan in recent years.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 19, 2026
Tangles of rubber tubing sprouted out of the tank.
From "Stormbreaker" by Anthony Horowitz
On the housing front, rows of affordable duplexes are sprouting up for young families, retirees and empty-nesters next to single-family homes and farmland.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 11, 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
Grass and weeds were sprouting around the edges, but putting his hand against the crack, he could feel a draft of air rising from below.
From "Stormbreaker" by Anthony Horowitz
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
