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
Potato flatbread with spruce sprout pesto and pickled white currant.
From Salon ● Mar. 8, 2026
Moreover, Bernstein says, the disruption to the traditional eyewear market will be irreversible, as new suppliers sprout to feed tech’s demand for glasses hardware.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 19, 2026
It took even less time for the first sprout to break through the dirt with a loud pop, startling a nearby blackbird from its sleep.
From "Half Upon a Time" by James Riley
Of 37 vegetable categories NielsenIQ tracked, 28 showed sales declines over the same period, including carrots, cauliflower, spinach and brussels sprouts.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 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
I like the chickpea farro bowl with Brussels sprouts and tempeh.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 12, 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
She moves on from the kimchi to bean sprouts.
From "The Sun Is Also a Star" by Nicola Yoon
In the shade beneath the fading giant, a seedling had sprouted.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 19, 2026
American enclaves sprouted across Germany in areas occupied by U.S. forces after World War II, shaping the society around them for several generations.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 15, 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
The AI boom has brought huge profits for tech giants and sprouted many startups worldwide, but the bubble could pop if the frenzied excitement loses momentum.
From Barron's ● Feb. 18, 2026
Tangles of rubber tubing sprouted out of the tank.
From "Stormbreaker" by Anthony Horowitz
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
The National Park Service sees planting as insurance against the uneven distribution and high mortality of the naturally sprouting trees.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 13, 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
As they moved toward school, the houses became bolder, sprouting second stories that stood uneasily in their rickety wooden frames.
From "Breadcrumbs" by Anne Ursu
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.
