grow*/*/*/

[grəʊ]

(past tense grew [gruː] ; past participle grown [grəʊn] ) verb

1) if children, animals, or plants grow, they become taller

She must have grown at least four inches since I saw her last.[/ex]

a fully grown lion[/ex]

Some of these creatures grew to a length of over 12 feet.[/ex]

2) [I/T] if your hair or nails grow, or if you grow them, they become longer

My nails grow really quickly.[/ex]

Her husband is growing a beard.[/ex]

3) [I] to increase in size, strength, or importance

The world's population is growing faster than anyone thought it would.[/ex]

The problem continues to grow.[/ex]

She could feel the anger growing inside her.[/ex]

The sound grew to a deafening roar.[/ex]

The economy has grown by 7% over the past year.[/ex]

She was growing in confidence every day.[/ex]

4) [T] if you grow plants, you look after them and help them to develop

Syn:

cultivate,

produce

They grew all their own vegetables.[/ex]

Various crops are grown here.[/ex]

the country's largest rice-growing area[/ex]

5) [linking verb] literary

used for saying that a feeling or quality gradually starts to exist

The nights were growing darker.[/ex]

Nina was growing bored.[/ex]

She had grown used to the old man's habits.[/ex]

They had grown to love the place and the people.[/ex]

•

- grow apart

- grow into sth

- grow on sb

- grow out of sth

- grow up

Word family: grow Words in the same family as [i]grow ● grown adj ● outgrow v ● growing adj ● overgrown adj ● growth n ● undergrowth n