spawn

American  

[spawn] / spɔn /

noun

spawn, plural spawns plural

1. Zoology. the mass of eggs deposited by fishes, amphibians, mollusks, crustaceans, etc.

2. Mycology. the mycelium of mushrooms, especially of the species grown for the market.

3. Usually Disparaging. a swarming brood; numerous progeny.

   Diners at the restaurant were annoyed by the two inconsiderate parents and their unruly spawn.

4. any person or thing regarded as the offspring of some stock, idea, etc.

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adjective

1. of or relating to the spawning of a character or item in a video game: the spawn rate.

   a spawn point;

   the spawn rate.

verb (used without object)

spawns, present (3rd person singular) spawned, past participle, past spawning present participle

1. to deposit eggs or sperm directly into the water, as fishes.

2. (of a character or item in a video game) to originate at a fixed point in an existing game environment.

   An enemy character just spawned right on top of me!

verb (used with object)

spawns, present (3rd person singular) spawned, past participle, past spawning present participle

1. to produce (spawn).

2. to give birth to; give rise to.

   His sudden disappearance spawned many rumors.

   Synonyms:

   beget, yield, generate, engender

3. to produce in large number.

4. to plant with mycelium.

spawn British  

/ spɔːn /

noun

1. the mass of eggs deposited by fish, amphibians, or molluscs

2. derogatory offspring, product, or yield

3. botany the nontechnical name for mycelium

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verb

1. (of fish, amphibians, etc) to produce or deposit (eggs)

2. derogatory (of people) to produce (offspring)

3. (tr) to produce or engender

spawn Scientific  

/ spôn /

1. The eggs of water animals such as fish, amphibians, and mollusks.

2. Offspring produced in large numbers.

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1. To lay eggs; produce spawn.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• spawner
  noun
• unspawned
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• spawn
  plural
• spawns
  plural

Participles

• spawning
  present
• spawned
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• spawn
  simple
• spawns
  simple
• have spawned
  perfect
• has spawned
  perfect
• am spawning
  progressive
• are spawning
  progressive
• is spawning
  progressive
• have been spawning
  perfect progressive
• has been spawning
  perfect progressive

Past

• spawned
  simple
• had spawned
  perfect
• was spawning
  progressive
• were spawning
  progressive
• had been spawning
  perfect progressive

Future

• will spawn
  simple
• will have spawned
  perfect
• will be spawning
  progressive
• will have been spawning
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of spawn

1350–1400; Middle English spawnen (v.), probably < Anglo-French espaundre ( Old French espandre ) to expand

Explanation

Technically, the mass of small eggs laid by animals like fish, frogs, mollusks is called spawn. But the word has been borrowed to mean offspring, or the act of making them in general. When someone is in league with the devil, a preacher might refer to them as “Satan’s spawn.” Your dad probably find something satanic in the kids next door when he refers to them as the neighbor’s spawn. Bill Gates’ programming project in college spawned Microsoft, a multi-billion dollar industry giant.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

spawn spawns spawned spawning

Seidu equipped fishermen with GPS trackers to identify where guitarfish gather and spawn.

From Barron's ● Jul. 23, 2026

The area will then be made more fish-friendly by building in natural steps that will increase habitats and allow the creatures to move up and down stream and spawn.

From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2026

In the meantime, the quest could spawn technologies with other applications.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 9, 2026

Meanwhile, when he was their age, young Giles, nicknamed Ripper, terrorized London by summoning hell spawn for fun.

From Salon ● Jun. 12, 2026

By September, the salmon began working their way upstream to spawn.

From "Touching Spirit Bear" by Ben Mikaelsen

The Severn Estuary is home to huge numbers of sprats and salmon, and the twaite shad, a protected migrating species which spawns in the tributaries of the River Severn.

From BBC ● Feb. 10, 2026

The obvious question soon spawns more intriguing ones, namely, who survived, and where did they go?

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 2, 2026

The largest wild Baltic salmon stock spawns in the Tornio and Kalix Rivers in northern Finland and Sweden and has high ecological and societal value.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 5, 2024

“It may be examined as well for its interaction with the institutions of the society which spawns it.”

From New York Times ● Jul. 15, 2023

I had thought there were many of them in the East and the Middle West, but California spawns them like herrings.

From "Travels with Charley in Search of America" by John Steinbeck

In Belle Époque Paris, the cabarets of Montmartre rebelled against industrial modernity and spawned an aggressive avant-garde sensibility.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026

A viral hit, it spawned thousands of reaction videos on TikTok, and racked up 49 million plays on YouTube.

From BBC ● Jun. 19, 2026

“Father Brown” even spawned a spin-off, “The Sister Boniface Mysteries,” which has been airing on BritBox since 2022.

From Salon ● Jun. 16, 2026

Meet the next Asian film fighting style that will clobber Hollywood slap-happy just as Hong Kong wire-fu spawned “The Matrix” and Indonesia’s “The Raid” begot “John Wick.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 11, 2026

All that afternoon she directed toward me calculated words that spawned in my mind a horde of invisible demons bent upon exacting vengeance for what I had done.

From "Black Boy" by Richard Wright

"But it carries major risks of spawning emotional over-reliance and distorted social cognition," he wrote.

From Barron's ● Jul. 15, 2026

Seafood, when caught wild, varies in price due to water temperatures, spawning, overfishing and other factors.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 23, 2026

It is a key river for spawning salmon and noted for its brown trout and sea trout populations as well.

From BBC ● May 6, 2026

Presidential assassinations have been spawning conspiracy theories since Lincoln.

From Slate ● Apr. 28, 2026

We see the miracle of nature’s control at work when the cod move through winter seas to their spawning grounds, where each female deposits several millions of eggs.

From "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson

Related Words

• create
• generate