bear fruit

1. Yield results, have a favorable outcome, as in This new idea of his is bound to bear fruit. This metaphoric term, first recorded in 1879, transfers the production of fruit by a tree or plant to other kinds of useful yield.

Example Sentences

China’s industrial profit rose significantly in August, suggesting Beijing’s recent ramped-up drive to curb excess capacity and rein in cutthroat business competition is starting to bear fruit.

Read more on Wall Street Journal

The mantra was about waiting until these players understand the genius of the message, just hang on until the full magnificence of the work starts to bear fruit.

Read more on BBC

Yet there is hope in some quarters: it is possible this year's output may turn out to be a low point, as recent investments start to bear fruit.

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Japan's fertility rate - the average number of children born to a woman over her lifetime - has been low since the 1970s, so experts warn even dramatic improvements now would take decades to bear fruit.

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By the mid-aughts, efforts to draw in more blue-collar visitors had begun to bear fruit, and tax records show more than a million people were coming each year.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• bloom 
• blossom 
• boom 
• develop 
• flourish 
• grow 
• mushroom 
• prosper 
• shine 
• succeed