spawn

American  

[spawn] / spɔn /

noun

• spawn,
  plural
• spawns
  plural

1. Zoology. the mass of eggs deposited by fishes, amphibians, mollusks, crustaceans, etc.

2. Mycology. the mycelium of mushrooms, especially of the species grown for the market.

3. Usually Disparaging. a swarming brood; numerous progeny.

   Diners at the restaurant were annoyed by the two inconsiderate parents and their unruly spawn.

4. any person or thing regarded as the offspring of some stock, idea, etc.

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adjective

1. of or relating to the spawning of a character or item in a video game: the spawn rate.

   a spawn point;

   the spawn rate.

verb (used without object)

• spawns,
  present (3rd person singular)
• spawned,
  past participle,  past
• spawning
  present participle

1. to deposit eggs or sperm directly into the water, as fishes.

2. (of a character or item in a video game) to originate at a fixed point in an existing game environment.

   An enemy character just spawned right on top of me!

verb (used with object)

• spawns,
  present (3rd person singular)
• spawned,
  past participle,  past
• spawning
  present participle

1. to produce (spawn).

2. to give birth to; give rise to.

   His sudden disappearance spawned many rumors.

   Synonyms:

   beget, yield, generate, engender

3. to produce in large number.

4. to plant with mycelium.

spawn British  

/ spɔːn /

noun

1. the mass of eggs deposited by fish, amphibians, or molluscs

2. derogatory offspring, product, or yield

3. botany the nontechnical name for mycelium

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verb

1. (of fish, amphibians, etc) to produce or deposit (eggs)

2. derogatory (of people) to produce (offspring)

3. (tr) to produce or engender

spawn Scientific  

/ spôn /

1. The eggs of water animals such as fish, amphibians, and mollusks.

2. Offspring produced in large numbers.

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1. To lay eggs; produce spawn.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• spawner
  noun
• unspawned
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• spawn
  plural
• spawns
  plural

Participles

• spawning
  present
• spawned
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• spawn
  simple
• spawns
  simple
• have spawned
  perfect
• has spawned
  perfect
• am spawning
  progressive
• are spawning
  progressive
• is spawning
  progressive
• have been spawning
  perfect progressive
• has been spawning
  perfect progressive

Past

• spawned
  simple
• had spawned
  perfect
• was spawning
  progressive
• were spawning
  progressive
• had been spawning
  perfect progressive

Future

• will spawn
  simple
• will have spawned
  perfect
• will be spawning
  progressive
• will have been spawning
  perfect progressive

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Etymology

Origin of spawn

1350–1400; Middle English spawnen (v.), probably < Anglo-French espaundre ( Old French espandre ) to expand

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Explanation

Technically, the mass of small eggs laid by animals like fish, frogs, mollusks is called spawn. But the word has been borrowed to mean offspring, or the act of making them in general. When someone is in league with the devil, a preacher might refer to them as “Satan’s spawn.” Your dad probably find something satanic in the kids next door when he refers to them as the neighbor’s spawn. Bill Gates’ programming project in college spawned Microsoft, a multi-billion dollar industry giant.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

spawn spawns spawned spawning

How do Facebook, Instagram and all of Zuck’s other spawn remain integral parts of our lives until we die if users eventually get weary enough to figure out their existence is better off without them?

From Salon ● Oct. 11, 2026

Warmer seas help spawn Pacific hurricanes, which have already battered Hawai‘i this year. As I write this, rhyming storms named Polo and Nolo threaten to bring flooding to Hawai‘i and Mexico.

From Slate ● Sep. 28, 2026

Five years later, the same safety fears that helped spawn OpenAI would contribute to the decision of Amodei and others to break away and start Anthropic.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 27, 2026

But drought struck the region in the early 2020s — shrinking the streams where the chi spawn.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 11, 2026

Ron’s magic wand was lying on top of a fish tank full of frog spawn on the windowsill, next to his fat gray rat, Scabbers, who was snoozing in a patch of sun.

From "Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets" by J. K. Rowling

The Severn Estuary is home to huge numbers of sprats and salmon, and the twaite shad, a protected migrating species which spawns in the tributaries of the River Severn.

From BBC ● Feb. 10, 2026

The hysterical posturing is even more implausible when you realize existing stars will be AI’s biggest beneficiaries when it spawns lucrative new interactive opportunities.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 10, 2025

Straight line winds result when rain and hail at high altitudes evaporate and cool the ambient air, which then plummets and, at the surface, spawns intense winds that rush outward.

From Science Daily ● Nov. 2, 2023

“It may be examined as well for its interaction with the institutions of the society which spawns it.”

From New York Times ● Jul. 15, 2023

I had thought there were many of them in the East and the Middle West, but California spawns them like herrings.

From "Travels with Charley in Search of America" by John Steinbeck

Earhart's disappearance spawned numerous theories - from a simple crash due to fuel exhaustion to more elaborate claims of interference.

From BBC ● Oct. 10, 2026

Disclosure spawned another distasteful practice—showrooming, in which people would spend hours in a store grilling a sales clerk and test-driving computers or appliances, then buy online elsewhere for less.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 23, 2026

It spawned six spin-offs and became one of AMC’s most influential shows.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 8, 2026

A boom in artificial intelligence has spawned the building of large data centers, while a rising stock market has increased demand for financial advice.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 2, 2026

Harry’s was an age that spawned bold dreams and audacious dreamers.

From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown

The American pioneer vanished while attempting to circumnavigate the globe in 1937, spawning decades of speculation on her fate.

From BBC ● Oct. 10, 2026

Environmental specialist Peter Cunningham told AFP that potential sediment plumes could impact rocky shoreline habitats, crayfish spawning and breeding species.

From Barron's ● Aug. 25, 2026

Declining enrollment in California public schools is spawning a new and growing partnership that is helping to keep child-care centers in business — vacant classrooms are being filled with toddlers and babies.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 4, 2026

And how and why were they surviving, spawning and getting so big?

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 2, 2026

The ice never melts; it clings to the bottom of the world, spawning winds, storms, and weather that affect the whole planet.

From "Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World" by Jennifer Armstrong

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Related Words

• create
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