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.
The world's oceans are hotter than ever recorded, new data suggests, as they suffer from human-caused climate change and the growing El Niño weather phenomenon.
From BBC ● Aug. 24, 2026
Once back in Britain, royal watchers say, there will be growing pressure for William to extend an olive branch to his younger brother while their father, who is 77, continues to undergo treatment for cancer.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 24, 2026
The results add to growing evidence that the gut microbiome reflects more than a person's current diet, lifestyle, health, and medication use.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 24, 2026
“There were a couple of fans who came up to me who were of Mexican descent, but they didn’t get the chance to learn like me growing up,” he said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 24, 2026
But since I was not pretty, and far too bashful to express my feelings, a whole generation of boys was growing up unaware of the girl in seat 32.
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
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.
