Adjacent Words

Growth definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

GROWTH, n. The gradual increase of animal and vegetable bodies; the process of springing from a germ, seed or root,and proceeding to full size, by the addition of matter, through ducts and secretory vessels. In plants, vegetation. We speak of slow growth and rapid growth; of early growth; late growth and full growth.
1. Product; produce; that which has grown; as a fine growth of wood.
2. Production; any thing produced; as a poem of English growth.
3. Increase in number, bulk or frequency.
4. Increase in extent or prevalence; as the growth of trade; the growth of vice.
5. Advancement; progress; improvement; as growth in grace or piety.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: (biology) the process of an individual organism growing organically; a purely biological unfolding of events involved in an organism changing gradually from a simple to a more complex level; "he proposed an indicator of osseous development in children" [syn: growth, growing, maturation, development, ontogeny, ontogenesis] [ant: nondevelopment]
2: a progression from simpler to more complex forms; "the growth of culture"
3: a process of becoming larger or longer or more numerous or more important; "the increase in unemployment"; "the growth of population" [syn: increase, increment, growth] [ant: decrease, decrement]
4: vegetation that has grown; "a growth of trees"; "the only growth was some salt grass"
5: the gradual beginning or coming forth; "figurines presage the emergence of sculpture in Greece" [syn: emergence, outgrowth, growth]
6: (pathology) an abnormal proliferation of tissue (as in a tumor)
7: something grown or growing; "a growth of hair"

Merriam Webster's

noun Date: 1557 1. a. (1) a stage in the process of growing ; size (2) full growth b. the process of growing c. progressive development ; evolution d. increase, expansion <the growth of the oil industry> 2. a. something that grows or has grown b. an abnormal proliferation of tissue (as a tumor) c. outgrowth d. the result of growth ; product 3. a producing especially by growing <fruits of his own growth> 4. anticipated progressive growth especially in capital value and income <some investors prefer growth to immediate income>

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. 1 the act or process of growing. 2 an increase in size or value. 3 something that has grown or is growing. 4 Med. a morbid formation. 5 the cultivation of produce. 6 a crop or yield of grapes. Phrases and idioms: full growth the size ultimately attained; maturity. growth hormone Biol. a substance which stimulates the growth of a plant or animal. growth industry an industry that is developing rapidly. growth stock etc. stock etc. that tends to increase in capital value rather than yield high income.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Growth Growth, n. [Icel. gro?r, gr??i. See Grow.] 1. The process of growing; the gradual increase of an animal or a vegetable body; the development from a seed, germ, or root, to full size or maturity; increase in size, number, frequency, strength, etc.; augmentation; advancement; production; prevalence or influence; as, the growth of trade; the growth of power; the growth of intemperance. Idle weeds are fast in growth. --Shak. 2. That which has grown or is growing; anything produced; product; consequence; effect; result. Nature multiplies her fertile growth. --Milton.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(growths) Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English. 1. The growth of something such as an industry, organization, or idea is its development in size, wealth, or importance. ...the growth of nationalism. ...Japan's enormous economic growth. ...high growth rates. N-UNCOUNT: oft N of n 2. The growth in something is the increase in it. A steady growth in the popularity of two smaller parties may upset the polls... The area has seen a rapid population growth... The market has shown annual growth of 20 per cent for several years. N-UNCOUNT: also a N, oft supp N, N in n, N of amount 3. A growth industry, area, or market is one which is increasing in size or activity. (BUSINESS) Computers and electronics are growth industries and need skilled technicians... Real estate lending has become the biggest growth area for American banks. ADJ: ADJ n 4. Someone's growth is the development and progress of their character. ...the child's emotional and intellectual growth... N-UNCOUNT: usu supp N 5. Growth in a person, animal, or plant is the process of increasing in physical size and development. ...hormones which control fertility and body growth... Cells divide and renew as part of the human growth process. N-UNCOUNT: usu with supp 6. You can use growth to refer to plants which have recently developed or which developed at the same time. This helps to ripen new growth and makes it flower profusely... N-VAR 7. A growth is a lump that grows inside or on a person, animal, or plant, and that is caused by a disease. This type of surgery could even be used to extract cancerous growths. N-COUNT

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. 1. Increase, expansion, development, growing, extension. 2. Vegetation, sprouting, germination, shooting, bourgeoning, pullulation, putting out. 3. Produce, product. 4. Advancement, advance, progress, improvement.

Moby Thesaurus

about-face, abscess, access, accession, accomplishment, accretion, accrual, accruement, accumulation, addition, advance, advancement, aggrandizement, ague, alchemy, amplification, anemia, ankylosis, anoxia, apnea, appreciation, ascent, asphyxiation, assimilation, assumption, asthma, ataxia, atrophy, augmentation, backache, ballooning, becoming, benign tumor, bleeding, blennorhea, bloating, blossoming, boom, boost, bottoming out, broadening, budding, buildup, burgeoning, business cycle, business fluctuations, bust, cachexia, cachexy, callosity, callus, cancer, carcinoma, change, change-over, chill, chills, clump, colic, constipation, conversion, convulsion, cooling off, corn, coughing, crescendo, crisis, crop, cultivation, cyanosis, cyst, depression, development, developmental change, diarrhea, dizziness, downturn, dropsy, dysentery, dyspepsia, dyspnea, economic cycle, economic expansion, economic growth, edema, elaboration, elevation, emaciation, enlargement, evolution, evolutionary change, evolvement, evolving, excrescence, expanding economy, expansion, explication, extension, fainting, fatigue, fever, fibrillation, flip-flop, flood, flowering, flux, fungosity, fungus, furtherance, gain, gemmation, germination, gradual change, greatening, gush, hassock, hemorrhage, high blood pressure, high growth rate, hike, hydrops, hypertension, hypotension, icterus, improvement, increase, increment, indigestion, inflammation, inflation, insomnia, intumescence, itching, jaundice, jump, labored breathing, lapse, leap, low, low blood pressure, lumbago, lump, luxuriation, malignant growth, marasmus, market expansion, maturation, metastatic tumor, mole, morbid growth, mounting, multiplication, nasal discharge, natural development, natural growth, naturalization, nausea, necrosis, neoplasm, nevus, nonmalignant tumor, nonviolent change, nurturing, outgrowth, overgrowth, pain, paralysis, passage, peak, peaking, plantation, planting, procreation, productiveness, progress, progression, proliferation, prosperity, proud flesh, pruritus, pullulation, raise, rash, re-formation, recession, reconversion, recovery, reduction, reproduction, resolution, reversal, rheum, ripening, rise, sarcoma, sclerosis, seizure, shift, shock, skin eruption, slowdown, slump, sneezing, snowballing, sore, spasm, spread, sprouting, stand, success, surge, swelling, switch, switch-over, tabes, tachycardia, transformation, transit, transition, tuft, tumescence, tumor, turning into, tussock, unfolding, up, upgrowth, upping, upset stomach, upsurge, upswing, uptrend, upturn, vegetation, verruca, vertigo, volte-face, vomiting, wart, wasting, waxing, wen, widening