I. -əˌrāt, usu -ād.+V verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: back-formation from proliferation
intransitive verb
1. : to grow by proliferation
the nerve tips proliferate — F.A.Geldord
2. : to increase in numbers as if by proliferation : burgeon , expand , multiply , spread
had proliferated into eleven subsidiary agencies — Time
fantasies proliferate where facts are few — Weston La Barre
buildings which … proliferate farther back — Fortune
transitive verb
1. : to cause to grow by proliferation
2. : to cause to increase in numbers as if by proliferation : produce abundantly
that fellow proliferated ideas — H.J.Laski
tendency to proliferate jobs and men — J.K.Galbraith
II. -_rə̇t, -ˌrāt, usu -d.+V adjective
Etymology: back-formation from proliferation
: developing a leafy shoot from a normally terminal organ — used especially of a flower