- sprout
- [[t]spra͟ʊt[/t]]
sprouts, sprouting, sprouted1) VERB When plants, vegetables, or seeds sprout, they produce new shoots or leaves.
It only takes a few days for beans to sprout.
2) VERB When leaves, shoots, or plants sprout somewhere, they grow there.[V prep] Leaf-shoots were beginning to sprout on the hawthorn...
[V prep] Birch trees sprouted from the rubble and grew into a dense young wood.
[V n] ...the garden, which had had time to sprout a shocking collection of weeds.
4) VERB If you sprout beans or seeds, you make them grow small shoots before eating them. You usually do this by soaking them in water.[V n] When you sprout seeds their nutritional content increases...
[V-ed] Sprouted beans only need to be cooked for 1-2 minutes.
5) V-ERG: no passive If something such as hair sprouts from a person or animal, or if they sprout it, it grows on them.[V prep] She is very old now, with little, round, wire-rimmed glasses and whiskers sprouting from her chin...
[V n] As well as sprouting a few grey hairs, Kevin seems to be suffering the occasional memory loss.
6) V-ERG If a large number of things have appeared or developed somewhere, you can say that they have sprouted there or that the place has sprouted them.[V adv/prep] More than a million satellite dishes have sprouted on homes across the country...
[V n] Since its first shop was opened in 1976, it has sprouted outlets in 39 countries. [Also V]
7) N-COUNT: usu pl Sprouts are vegetables that look like tiny cabbages. They are also called brussels sprouts.8) N-COUNT: usu pl Sprouts are new shoots on plants.After eleven days of growth the number of sprouts was counted.
English dictionary. 2008.
