growth

American  

[grohth] / groʊθ /

noun

• growths
  plural

1. 

   the act or process, or a manner of growing; development; gradual increase.

   Synonyms:

   expansion, augmentation

   Antonyms:

   decrease, decline

2. size or stage of development.

   It hasn't yet reached its full growth.

3. completed development.

4. development from a simpler to a more complex stage.

   the growth of ritual forms.

5. development from another but related form or stage.

   the growth of the nation state.

6. something that has grown or developed by or as if by a natural process.

   a growth of stubborn weeds.

   Synonyms:

   outgrowth, result

7. Pathology. an abnormal increase in a mass of tissue, as a tumor.

   Synonyms:

   excrescence

8. origin; source; production.

   onions of English growth.

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adjective

1. of or denoting a business, industry, or equity security that grows or is expected to grow in value over a long period of time.

   a growth industry; a growth stock.

growth British  

/ ɡrəʊθ /

noun

1. the process or act of growing, esp in organisms following assimilation of food

2. an increase in size, number, significance, etc

3. something grown or growing

   a new growth of hair

4. a stage of development

5. any abnormal tissue, such as a tumour

6. (modifier) of, relating to, causing or characterized by growth

   a growth industry

   growth hormone

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growth Scientific  

/ grōth /

1. An increase in the size of an organism or part of an organism, usually as a result of an increase in the number of cells. Growth of an organism may stop at maturity, as in the case of humans and other mammals, or it may continue throughout life, as in many plants. In humans, certain body parts, like hair and nails, continue to grow throughout life.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• pregrowth
  noun
• regrowth
  noun
• supergrowth
  noun
• antigrowth
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• growths
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of growth

First recorded in 1550–60; see grow, -th ¹; probably cognate with Old Norse grōthr

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Explanation

The noun growth is the process of something becoming bigger. If you mentioned the growth of your family, you might mean that babies were born or people got married, increasing your family's size. Growth is an increase in physical size, like the growth of a sapling into a mature tree. There are other kinds of growth, like your sister's personal growth since she started to meditate every day. Growth can also mean something that has grown, like a growth of stubble on your dad's face or a cancerous growth that needs to be removed surgically. The Old English root word is growan, "to grow or flourish."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

growth growths

Increasingly, that void of hope is being filled by the growth of the evangelical church: about a quarter of Brazilians are now evangelical.

From BBC ● Oct. 24, 2026

He can also point to significant economic growth over the past decade and numerous improvements in infrastructure.

From BBC ● Oct. 23, 2026

Tech stock losses cooled, but concerns about high costs and barriers to AI growth haven’t been completely assuaged.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 23, 2026

It has exploded in growth since going viral during the pandemic and garnering more than 10 million followers on TikTok.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 23, 2026

The people bragged of the growth of Salem, and of the daring of her sailors.

From "Carry On, Mr. Bowditch" by Jean Lee Latham

It doesn’t endorse screenings for skin cancer or recommend that physicians counsel patients on how to look for suspicious moles and growths on their bodies.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 14, 2026

These thread like growths, known as filaments, would keep extending until they created a short circuit and destroyed the pixel.

From Science Daily ● Mar. 4, 2026

Sloan is currently waiting for a mastectomy, which requires the removal or one or both of the breasts as a method of treating or preventing future cancer growths.

From BBC ● Feb. 25, 2026

At the time, she said she learned she had non-cancerous growths on her vocal cords.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 20, 2026

I didn’t want to come but Padma says that when it comes to facial growths, sons need their fathers.

From "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child" by J.K. Rowling

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Related Words

• advance
• advancement
• expansion
• gain
• hike
• improvement
• increase
• production
• prosperity
• rise
• success
• surge

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