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.

---

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.

---

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

Salmon also suffered, partly because drought had affected inland rivers, where Chinook and Coho migrate to spawn, eggs hatch, and salmon fry swim back downstream to the ocean.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 29, 2026

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

From Barron's ● Jul. 23, 2026

Trevor Henderson drew a faceless monster called Siren Head eight years ago and watched it spawn YouTube films, knockoff Amazon.com merchandise and videogames.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026

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

From Salon ● Jun. 12, 2026

Just as the nothingness of the vacuum and the zero- point energy spawn particles, they might spawn universes.

From "Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea" by Charles Seife

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

I don’t know how many opportunities you get to do that — being a part of something where it just spawns this whole culture of creativity.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 21, 2025

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

Voldemort’s expression remained impassive as he said, “Greatness inspires envy, envy engenders spite, spite spawns lies. You must know this, Dumbledore.”

From "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" by J.K. Rowling

She rose to global stardom with her 1972 album "No Secrets," which spawned the number one smash "You're So Vain."

From Barron's ● Jul. 27, 2026

The show grew so popular that it spawned a whole genre of smooth and sexy music, exemplified by artists like Anita Baker and Luther Vandross.

From Slate ● Jul. 23, 2026

The 2016 animated film grossed more than $643 million at the global box office, then spawned a 2024 sequel that made more than $1 billion worldwide.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 9, 2026

Billions flowed into the company as bitcoin surged to a record, and its strategy spawned dozens of copycats.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 29, 2026

He cared no longer for Shagrat or Snaga or any other orc that was ever spawned.

From "The Return of the King" by J.R.R. Tolkien

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

From Barron's ● Jul. 15, 2026

And how and why were they surviving, spawning and getting so big?

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 2, 2026

Fifth, the DNI can set priorities for technical innovations that the other agencies can’t do on their own, at least not without creating a dozen or more different approaches, spawning duplication, unfilled gaps, or both.

From Slate ● Jun. 15, 2026

Rugby success spawning mainstream breakthrough names has been patchy.

From BBC ● Apr. 30, 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