- present participle of grow.
growing
Americanadjective
-
becoming greater in quantity, size, extent, or intensity.
growing discontent among industrial workers.
-
having or showing life.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of growing
First recorded before 900; Middle English; Old English growende. See grow, -ing 2
Explanation
A growing thing (or person) is in the process of developing, often by getting bigger. You can argue for a second helping of cake by saying, "I'm a growing kid!" Your puppy is a growing animal, changing and developing into an adult dog, and your cactus is a growing plant, even if the only evidence of that growth is one pink bloom each year. You can also use this adjective for things that increase, like your growing bank account or your growing interest in woodworking. As a noun, growing means the biological process of change and development itself: "Growing isn't always easy, but we all have to do it."
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.
There have been plenty of warnings about the dangers of AI for aid agencies, who face growing challenges of securing often extremely sensitive data and swelling misinformation about their operations and beneficiaries.
From Barron's • Jul. 10, 2026
It took Sayce and his team eight years to open but the service is growing fast.
From BBC • Jul. 10, 2026
First-and business-class cabins are growing and make up half or more of revenue for some airlines.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jul. 9, 2026
Some on Wall Street are growing increasingly concerned that leveraged ETFs are becoming more of a force in markets — potentially amplifying volatility in key corners of the stock market, like trendy semiconductor names.
From MarketWatch • Jul. 9, 2026
Despite the growing pile of gold, the straw loomed over me like a beast prepared to swallow me whole.
From "Rump: The (Fairly) True Story of Rumpelstilskin" by Liesl Shurtliff
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.
