outgrow
Americanverb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
verb
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to grow too large for (clothes, shoes, etc)
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to lose (a habit, idea, reputation, etc) in the course of development or time
-
to grow larger or faster than
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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outgrowsimple
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outgrowssimple
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have outgrownperfect
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has outgrownperfect
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am outgrowingprogressive
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are outgrowingprogressive
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is outgrowingprogressive
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have been outgrowingperfect progressive
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has been outgrowingperfect progressive
Past
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outgrewsimple
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had outgrownperfect
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was outgrowingprogressive
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were outgrowingprogressive
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had been outgrowingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of outgrow
Explanation
To outgrow something is to become too big to fit in it, or to grow too mature for it. Most college students have outgrown their affection for stuffed animals. If they haven't, they might have a hard time making friends in the dorm. As you grow older and bigger, you outgrow all kinds of things: clothing, your childhood bed, your ice skates. You'll also outgrow many things in the sense of being too old for them to be appropriate or as appealing as they were when you were younger. Just about everyone outgrows their favorite picture books and cartoons eventually. The earliest meaning of outgrow was "surpass in growth" or "grow faster than."
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:
However, “once you get to a certain point, you traditionally will outgrow a robo adviser.”
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 14, 2026
It probably continued to outgrow the country in the first three months of this year, the report said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 5, 2026
The bank is placed comfortably in terms of liquidity coverage ratio and loan-to-deposit ratio to outgrow India’s banking industry in the medium term, the analysts say.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 21, 2026
This competition pushed early crops to develop traits that helped them outgrow and outcompete neighboring plants, offering new insight into how crops evolve and how they might be improved in the future.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 8, 2026
“The doctor said at some point I might outgrow them.”
From "Burning Blue" by Paul Griffin
Her character arc implicitly concedes this when she outgrows some of her early ways in the third act.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 5, 2026
When he outgrows that, he said, they’ll remove the fake grass and put in something else — Margaret is thinking about an herb garden.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 8, 2024
If the stalk outgrows the jar, move it to a larger one.
From Washington Times ● Aug. 10, 2023
Alicia Kennedy takes a look at how The Bear’s second season outgrows its main character, and improves because of it.
From Slate ● Jun. 23, 2023
“Her stomping will be a lot more effective when she outgrows those slippers,” I say.
From "Liar & Spy" by Rebecca Stead
While banks’ credit-card loans sharply outgrew nominal gross domestic product after the pandemic, their growth has more recently been trailing GDP, according to Fed data.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 13, 2026
“Arm and AMD units outgrew and continued to gain share at the expense of Intel,” UBS analyst Timothy Arcuri wrote in a research note this week.
From Barron's ● May 14, 2026
Originally called St Martin's Foodshare, the operation outgrew the church where it started, with volunteers also facing a huge increase in the amount of paperwork needed.
From BBC ● May 6, 2026
OpenAI represents something that Musk has rarely had to contend with: a success story that outgrew him.
From Slate ● Apr. 30, 2026
Always springing for new wrestling shoes, even as Luke outgrew two pairs in one season.
From "We'll Fly Away" by Bryan Bliss
The contribution limit of $5,000 annually makes this accessible as birthday and holiday gifts rather than traditional presents that get outgrown or spent.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 9, 2026
Today, the general perception among economists and policymakers is that the connection between money growth and inflation that Friedman emphasized no longer applies, or that the economy has simply outgrown the linkage.
From Barron's ● May 15, 2026
Rather, the volume of manuscripts has outgrown the capacity of the people who are supposed to evaluate them.
From Slate ● May 3, 2026
There was a feeling that Chelsea had outgrown the capacity at Kingsmeadow.
From BBC ● Apr. 22, 2026
Thankfully he’s outgrown the rest of his costume, so this year he’s only wearing the ears.
From "A Mango-Shaped Space" by Wendy Mass
Yet the population was outgrowing its code, and housing demand soared.
From Barron's ● May 31, 2026
It is the nature of childhood possessions that the child is always outgrowing them, and this is how things are meant to be.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 1, 2026
Last year, Reuters reported the banking firm was weighing options in London after outgrowing its existing 33-storey tower in Canary Wharf.
From BBC ● Nov. 27, 2025
“Indifferent” makes me wonder if you ever see yourself outgrowing country music.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 8, 2024
“It’s easier to come to terms with outgrowing the shallow friendships of early childhood once they have more mature friendships.”
From "The School for Whatnots" by Margaret Peterson Haddix
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.
