- 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.
Instead, the space between us and those galaxies is growing.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 25, 2026
Europe and parts of Asia picked up in July, indicating that the global economy was growing at a modest pace before the fresh surge in energy prices.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
But the working conditions for warehouse and delivery workers have been the subject of a growing national debate, with their union claiming that suspected deaths from overwork have continued.
From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026
Even though retirees typically spend less overall as they age, Gomez-Cardona said they also have less flexibility, because a growing share of their spending goes toward necessities they cannot easily cut back on.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 24, 2026
C.C. flew off toward the Shipwreck while Duane walked across the Mainly Frozen Ocean, led by his growing curiosity.
From "The Very, Very Far North" by Dan Bar-el
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.
