grow S1 W1 /ɡrəʊ $ ɡroʊ/ BrE AmE verb ( past tense grew /ɡruː/, past participle grown /ɡrəʊn $ ɡroʊn/)
[ Word Family: noun : ↑ grower , ↑ growth , ↑ undergrowth , ↑ outgrowth , ↑ overgrowth ; adjective : growing, ↑ grown , ↑ overgrown ; verb : ↑ grow , ↑ outgrow ]
[ Language: Old English ; Origin: growan ]
1 . INCREASE
a) [intransitive] to increase in amount, size, number, or strength OPP shrink :
Support for Mr Thompson is growing.
grow by
Sales of new cars grew by 10% last year.
grow from/to
The number of students at the college has grown from 200 to over 500.
A growing number of people are taking part-time jobs.
grow rapidly/slowly/steadily
The economy has grown steadily.
Fears are growing for the crew’s safety.
grow in
a city that is still growing in size
Skiing has really grown in popularity.
There is growing concern about climate change.
my growing interest in China
b) [transitive] to make a business or part of a business bigger and more successful:
We want to grow the export side of the business.
REGISTER
In everyday English, people usually say an amount or level goes up rather than grows :
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Sales went up by 10% last year.
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The population of the town has gone up to almost a million.
2 . PERSON/ANIMAL [intransitive] to become bigger, taller etc over a period of time in the process of becoming an adult OPP shrink :
You’ve really grown since I last saw you.
Victor seemed to grow taller every day.
grow 2 inches/5 cm etc
Stan grew two inches in six months.
3 . PLANTS
a) [intransitive] if plants grow, they exist and develop in a natural way:
a tree which will grow well in most types of soil
The plants grow wild (=grow without anyone looking after them) by the river.
b) [transitive] to make plants or crops develop and produce fruit or flowers ⇨ raise :
Many families own plots of land to grow food.
Britain grows 6,000,000 tonnes of potatoes a year.
The growing season is from April to September.
4 . HAIR/NAILS
a) [transitive] if you grow your hair or nails, you do not cut them:
I’ve decided to grow my hair long.
grow a beard/moustache
b) [intransitive] when hair or nails grow, they become longer
5 . BECOME
a) [I always + adj] to change and become different quite slowly:
The sound was growing louder.
Her tastes have changed as she’s grown older.
Donna has grown tired of being a model.
Gradually, Fiona’s eyes grew used to the darkness (=she gradually became able to see a little better) .
b) [intransitive] to gradually change your opinions and have a feeling that you did not have before
grow to like/hate/respect etc
After a while the kids grew to like Mr Cox.
the city he had grown to love
REGISTER
In everyday English, people usually say get older/tired/angry etc rather than grow older/tired/angry etc, which sounds rather literary:
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The sound was getting louder.
6 . IMPROVE [intransitive] to gradually become better, bigger etc
grow as
She’s grown tremendously as a musician.
7 . it/money doesn’t grow on trees spoken used to say that you should not waste money
grow apart phrasal verb
if two people grow apart, their relationship becomes less close:
The couple had been growing apart for years.
grow into somebody/something phrasal verb
1 . to develop over time and become a particular kind of person or thing:
Sue grew into a lovely young woman.
The two-part show has grown into a full-fledged series.
2 . to gradually learn how to do a job or deal with a situation successfully:
She will grow into her new role over the next few months.
3 . if a child grows into clothes, he or she becomes big enough to wear them
grow on somebody phrasal verb
if something grows on you, you gradually like it more and more:
I hated his music at first, but it grows on you.
grow out phrasal verb
if you grow out a hairstyle, or if it grows out, you gradually grow your hair until the style disappears
grow something ↔ out
I’m growing my fringe out.
grow out of something phrasal verb
1 . if a child grows out of clothes, he or she becomes too big to wear them SYN outgrow
2 . if someone grows out of something, they stop doing it as they get older SYN outgrow :
Mike finally seems to be growing out of his rebelliousness.
3 . to develop or happen as a result of something else that happened or existed:
His art grew out of his love of nature.
legislation which grew out of concern over the increasing crime rate
grow up phrasal verb
1 . to develop from being a child to being an adult:
What do you want to be when you grow up?
I grew up in Chicago.
2 . grow up! spoken used to tell someone to behave in a more responsible way, like an adult
3 . to start to exist or develop gradually:
Trading settlements grew up by the river.