See Also: grow(medicine)
Grow(money)
grow(1)(dictionary)
grow(2)(dictionary)
grow(dictionary)
WOODS, A piece of land on which forest trees in great number naturally grow(law)

grow(2) (iou)



grow verb. .
[Old English growan = Old Frisian growa, groia, Middle Dutch groeyen (Dutch groeien), Old High German gruoan, Old Norse groa, from Germanic strong verb from base also of GRASS noun, GREEN adjective.]
I. verb intrans.
Orig. (of a plant), show vigorous life, put out foliage, flourish. Now only, (of land), produce vegetation. rare. OE.
I. Murdoch The garden could be begun.., and grow with the membership of the community.
Develop or exist as a living plant (in a specified habitat or with a specified characteristic). OE.
Dryden Green Beds of Parsley near the River grow. J. Fowles Trees..grew more thickly there than anywhere else.
b. Orig. (of a mineral), be native to a certain place. Now (gen., joc.), be found or available in a certain place. LME.
Horace Walpole All the tables and chairs and conveniences..which he seems to think don't grow out of England.
Germinate, sprout, spring up; be produced. OE.
Shakespeare Othello Men whose heads Do grow beneath their shoulders. F. Brooke Sugar-canes grow without planting. A. Ure There grew upon the oak in Africa..a small excrescence like a bird.
Of an immaterial thing: come naturally into existence; arise, originate, develop (as from a seed). (Foll. by from, out of.) OE.
Tennyson As months ran on and rumour of battle grew.
Of (the hair, nails, etc. of) a living thing: increase gradually in size, length, or height by natural development. (Orig. only of plants: cf. WAX verb1) OE.
J. Conrad His red-gold pair of horizontal moustaches had grown to really noble proportions. T. S. Eliot You were always getting yourself measured To prove how you had grown since the last holidays.
With compl. (esp. adjective): become by degrees; esp. become increasingly. ME.
G. K. Chesterton Evening was closing in, and the room had grown darker. G. Greene Married people grow like each other. D. Abse He grew older, fatter, greyer, balder. B. Pym Tom was beginning to grow tired of her. H. Crane I have grown accustomed to an 'ivory tower' sort of existence.
b. Come or pass by degrees (in)to some state or condition; develop gradually (in)to. LME.
G. Greene I had grown to love the place. Grimsby Gazette She watches her own chosen dress grow from just a drawing..into a beautiful gown.
c. Arrive at, come to, (an agreement, conclusion, etc.). Foll. by to, upon. L16-M17.
Of a thing: increase gradually in magnitude, power, quantity, or degree. LME.
C. S. Forester A yellow light grew until the ship there was wrapped in flame. C. P. Snow He felt that niggle of disquiet growing.
Increase in some specified quality or property. arch. LME.
Milton They..In mean estate live moderate, till grown In wealth and multitude, factious they grow.
a. grow up. Esp. of a person: develop to maturity. Freq. as GROWN-UP ppl adjective. M16.
B. Jowett His children, one of whom is growing up.
b. Of a custom, condition, etc.: arise gradually, come into existence. L16.
Ld Brain A strong friendship grew up between the two men.
c. Be sensible or mature. Freq. in imper. M20.
A. Wesker Oh, grow up, Ronnie. You should know that by now.
Become gradually fixed in(to) or united to something. Esp. in grow into one, grow together, coalesce, become united. Now arch. or poet. L16.
Shelley Clasp me till our hearts be grown Like two lovers into one.
II. verb trans.
Produce (plants, fruit, wool, etc.) by cultivation; (of land, plants, etc.) bring forth. (rare before 19.) LME.
W. S. Maugham. On the plantation..we'd have grown rice and rye and corn and kept pigs. B. Patten The trees outside her window have grown leaves.
b. Develop, enlarge. (rare before 20.) L15.
Observer We've grown our sterling turnover to 18 per cent.
c. Let (beard etc.) develop or increase in length etc. E19.
G. Greene With the years he had grown a small pot-belly under a double-breasted waistcoat.
d. Crystallography. Bring about formation of (a crystal); cause (a crystal) to increase in size. E20.
In pass. Be covered (up or over) with growth. LME.
J. Dickey We came out among some fields grown up six or seven feet high in grass.
Phrases: grow on trees: see TREE noun. grow whiskers, have grown whiskers: see WHISKER noun. not let the grass grow under one's feet: see GRASS noun 1.
With adverbs & prepositions in specialized senses: grow away develop (well). grow down, grow downwards (a) extend downwards; (b) diminish. grow into one: see sense 10 above. grow on keep (seedling plants) in situations or conditions conducive to development. grow on become more appealing to or acquire gradually more influence over (a person). grow out become obliterated by growth. grow out of (a) be the result or development of; (b) become too large to wear (a garment etc.); (c) become too mature to retain (a childish habit etc.). grow to (a) come into existence to the benefit or injury of (a person etc.); (b) be an integral part of; (c) see sense 10 above. grow together: see sense 10 above. grow up: see sense 9 above.
growable adjective L19.
growingly adverb increasingly M18.