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Synonyms

grow out of

British  

verb

  1. to become too big or mature for

    she soon grew out of her girlish ways

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

grow out of Idioms  
  1. Develop or come into existence from. For example, This article grew out of a few scribbled notes , or Their mutual trust grew out of long acquaintance .

  2. Also, outgrow . Become too large or mature for, as in The baby's grown out of all her dresses , or He will outgrow these picture books in a few months .


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.

In practice, he argues, many innovations grow out of existing ones, often by borrowing or transplanting concepts from one field to another.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 30, 2026

The recordings were just as funny and weird and interesting as I remembered them; they didn’t seem dated, they didn’t seem superfluous, they weren’t something I was going to grow out of.

From Salon • Dec. 23, 2025

"No country can tax or cut its way out of this crisis alone. Africa must grow out of debt, supported by a fairer global financial system," Chidoka told AFP.

From Barron's • Nov. 19, 2025

“The basis of all human society, human life, is the soil and the plants that grow out of it,” Forsyth said.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 15, 2025

My mom used to say he’d grow out of it, but he just grew meaner and meaner.

From "The Young Man and the Sea" by Rodman Philbrick

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