I. sprout 1 /spraʊt/ BrE AmE verb
[ Language: Old English ; Origin: sprutan ]
1 . [intransitive and transitive] if vegetables, seeds, or plants sprout, they start to grow, producing ↑ shoot s , ↑ bud s , or leaves:
Move the pots outside when the seeds begin to sprout.
Trees were starting to sprout new leaves.
2 . [intransitive] ( also sprout up ) to appear suddenly in large numbers:
Office blocks are sprouting up everywhere.
3 . [intransitive and transitive] if something such as hair sprouts or if you sprout it, it starts to grow:
Jim seemed to have sprouted a beard.
II. sprout 2 BrE AmE noun [countable]
1 . especially British English a small green vegetable like a very small ↑ cabbage SYN brussels sprout
2 . a new growth on a plant SYN shoot
3 . [usually plural] American English an ↑ alfalfa seed which has grown a stem and is eaten
4 . [usually plural] American English a ↑ beansprout