sprout

American  

[spraut] / spraʊt /

verb (used without object)

• sprouts,
  present (3rd person singular)
• sprouted,
  past participle,  past
• sprouting
  present participle

1. to begin to grow; shoot forth, as a plant from a seed.

   Synonyms:

   develop, burgeon, bud, spring

2. (of a seed or plant) to put forth buds or shoots.

3. to develop or grow quickly.

   a boy awkwardly sprouting into manhood.

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verb (used with object)

• sprouts,
  present (3rd person singular)
• sprouted,
  past participle,  past
• sprouting
  present participle

1. to cause to sprout.

2. to remove sprouts from.

   Sprout and boil the potatoes.

noun

• sprouts
  plural

1. a shoot of a plant.

2. a new growth from a germinating seed, or from a rootstock, tuber, bud, or the like.

3. something resembling or suggesting a sprout, as in growth.

4. a young person; youth.

5. sprouts,

   1. the young shoots of alfalfa, soybeans, etc., eaten as a raw vegetable.

   2. Brussels sprout.

sprout British  

/ spraʊt /

verb

1. (of a plant, seed, etc) to produce (new leaves, shoots, etc)

2. to begin to grow or develop

   new office blocks are sprouting up all over the city

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noun

1. a newly grown shoot or bud

2. something that grows like a sprout

3. See Brussels sprout

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• undersprout
  noun
• resprout
  verb
• undersprout
  verb (used without object)
• nonsprouting
  adjective
• unsprouted
  adjective
• unsprouting
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• sprouts
  plural

Participles

• sprouting
  present
• sprouted
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• sprout
  simple
• sprouts
  simple
• have sprouted
  perfect
• has sprouted
  perfect
• am sprouting
  progressive
• are sprouting
  progressive
• is sprouting
  progressive
• have been sprouting
  perfect progressive
• has been sprouting
  perfect progressive

Past

• sprouted
  simple
• had sprouted
  perfect
• was sprouting
  progressive
• were sprouting
  progressive
• had been sprouting
  perfect progressive

Future

• will sprout
  simple
• will have sprouted
  perfect
• will be sprouting
  progressive
• will have been sprouting
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of sprout

1150–1200; (v.) Middle English spr ( o ) uten, Old English -sprūtan, in āsproten (past participle; see a- ³); cognate with Middle Dutch sprūten, German spriessen to sprout; akin to Greek speírein to scatter; (noun) Middle English; compare Middle Dutch, Middle Low German sprute

Explanation

A sprout is a small growth on a plant — a little new bud. Other things can sprout too: kids are constantly sprouting (growing). The key thing to think of when you're trying to remember the meaning of sprout is growth — as a noun, a sprout is a new growth of a plant, and as a verb, to sprout means to grow. Sprouting mainly applies to height and to the young, whether you're talking about plants, people, or things. An older person who gains fifty pounds is growing but not sprouting.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

sprout sprouts sprouted sprouting

Burnt-sienna vines twist through simmering ocher air, while flora sprout through these roiling masses in hues of chromium oxide and cadmium green.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 25, 2026

Recalling where certain plants sprout first in the spring can help hungry animals find important nutrients.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 29, 2026

The Buck Moon, which was named after the time male deer sprout new antlers, will rise on 29 July.

From BBC ● Jun. 29, 2026

The cinema is a place where new ideas sprout and beliefs are forged.

From Salon ● Apr. 9, 2026

Bobby had always been short for his age, and still only stood five-four, but he was just beginning to stretch out of his clothes and sprout up.

From "Endgame" by Frank Brady

"Bracken sprouts almost immediately because its rhizomes sit deep in the soil, so the burn layer wouldn't maybe have impacted those" she said.

From BBC ● Sep. 13, 2026

For the gardeners: At first, they look like unassuming sprouts.

From Slate ● Sep. 11, 2026

Uniforms that sprouts porcupine quills at the tug of a collar?

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 15, 2026

The fields of Eshtiwi show only the first faint signs of growth in June, with small green sprouts emerging around the village.

From Barron's ● Jul. 1, 2026

That turned out to be a good thing, as five more sprouts immediately broke through the sand where the teenagers had just been standing.

From "Half Upon a Time" by James Riley

England will want to build on the green shoots of recovery that sprouted in Leeds.

From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2026

Surveillance software sprouted in every cranny of the ballpark, first in service of providing more data for teams and front offices to pore over, then as fuel for ever more esoteric betting propositions.

From Salon ● Apr. 13, 2026

A home-construction boom sprouted across America in the roaring 1920s.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 5, 2026

Posters and murals featuring his beatific brown face sprouted across Mexican American communities.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 17, 2026

There was a tremble right beneath him as bright green vines sprouted from the ground.

From "The Way to Rio Luna" by Zoraida Cordova

To reignite waning interest in space travel, Musk had initially tried concocting a publicity stunt to send plant seeds to Mars in hope of sprouting new life there.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 13, 2026

This struggle is exactly why so many social clubs have been sprouting up in L.A. over the last few years.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 23, 2026

Images of seabirds, fish, and sprouting maize appear together on textiles, ceramics, pottery, wall carvings and paintings.

From Science Daily ● Mar. 7, 2026

"The seeds are sprouting and the harvest is coming," Hichilema said, touting a planned nationwide geological survey to map untapped deposits.

From Barron's ● Feb. 15, 2026

Spoony had, I don’t know, maybe eight or nine Iocs sprouting from his head like antennae.

From "All American Boys" by Jason Reynolds

Related Words

• burgeon
• germinate
• grow