From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishsproutsprout1 /spraʊt/ verb 1 [intransitive, transitive]HBPGROW/GET BIGGER if vegetables, seeds, or plants sprout, they start to grow, producing shoots, buds, or leaves Move the pots outside when the seeds begin to sprout. Trees were starting to sprout new leaves.2 [intransitive] (also sprout up)APPEAR to appear suddenly in large numbers Office blocks are sprouting up everywhere.3 [intransitive, transitive]GROW/GET BIGGER if something such as hair sprouts or if you sprout it, it starts to grow Jim seemed to have sprouted a beard.→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
sprout• But even the grass roots of the club are sprouting.• Jim seemed to have sprouted a beard overnight.• He was standing in the centre of the corridor with sheaves of documents sprouting from his fists.• Early potatoes should be sprouted indoors now to go out in spring.• Dark hair sprouted off the stump as if off a swollen knuckle.• The end started around the time our subjects sprouted the slightest of facial hair.• Weeds are starting to sprout through cracks in the sidewalk.• Superior products would evolve and stiff competition would sprout up as Roundup patent protections expired around the globe.• Beyond her kitchen window, crocuses sprouted up from the grass, bright as doubloons, orange and heliotrope.sproutsprout2 noun [countable] 1 DFHBP especially British English a small green vegetable like a very small cabbage SYN brussels sprout2 HBPa new growth on a plant SYN shoot3 [usually plural] American EnglishDF an alfalfa seed which has grown a stem and is eaten4 [usually plural] American EnglishHBPDF a beansproutExamples from the Corpus
sprout• A sprout can take just so much and then no more.• Add bean sprouts and cook another half minute.Origin sprout1 Old English sprutan 