growth
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ɡɹoʊθ/
ipa: /ɡɹəʊθ/
note: Dublin
ipa: /ɡɹʌot/
rhymes: -əʊθ
Forms: form: growths
Etymology: From grow + -th (abstract nominal suffix). Compare Old Frisian grēd ("meadow, pasture"; > North Frisian greyde (“growth, pasture”)), Middle High German gruote, gruot (“greens, fresh growth, shoot”), Old Norse gróðr ("growth, crop"; > Faroese grøði, Danish grøde (“fruits”), Swedish gröda (“crop, harvest”)). More at grow.
Senses: examples: text: It may be that a free society as we have known it carries in itself the forces of its own destruction, that once freedom has been achieved it is taken for granted and ceases to be valued, and that the free growth of ideas which is the essence of a free society will bring about the destruction of the foundations on which it depends.
ref: 1949, F. A. Hayek, “The Intellectuals and Socialism”, in University of Chicago Law Review, volume 16, number 3, Chicago: University of Chicago, →DOI, pages 431-432:
glosses: An increase in size, number, value, or strength.
examples: text: Growth was dampened by a softening of the global economy in 2001, but picked up in the subsequent years due to strong growth in China.
text: Private-equity nabobs bristle at being dubbed mere financiers.[…]Much of their pleading is public-relations bluster. Clever financial ploys are what have made billionaires of the industry’s veterans. “Operational improvement” in a portfolio company has often meant little more than promising colossal bonuses to sitting chief executives if they meet ambitious growth targets. That model is still prevalent today.
ref: 2013 June 22, “Engineers of a different kind”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8841, page 70:
text: Liz Truss has promised Britons she has “got your back” and set out a plan for “growth, growth and growth” in a conference speech disrupted by protesters asking who voted for her plan.
ref: 2022 October 5, Rowena Mason, quoting Liz Truss, “Liz Truss promises ‘growth, growth and growth’ in protest-hit speech”, in The Guardian:
topics: economics
sciences
glosses: Ellipsis of economic growth.
examples: text: Struggle, disappointment, and criticism all contribute to a person's growth.
glosses: An increase in psychological strength or resilience; an increased ability to overcome adversity.
topics: biology
natural-sciences
glosses: The act of growing, getting bigger or higher.
examples: text: Scary-looking rabbits were hopping around Fort Collins. These weren’t your standard cute, fluffy bunnies; they had horn-like growths protruding from their faces and bodies.
ref: 2025 August 14, Angela Haupt, “What to Know About the Horned ‘Zombie’ Rabbits Hopping Around Colorado”, in TIME:
topics: biology
natural-sciences
glosses: Something that grows or has grown.
topics: medicine
pathology
sciences
glosses: An abnormal mass such as a tumor.
Synonyms: sense: increase in size
word: enlargement
sense: increase in size
word: expansion
sense: increase in size
word: increase
sense: increase in size
word: increment
sense: act of growing
word: development
sense: act of growing
word: maturation
sense: something that grows or has grown
word: vegetation
sense: pathology: abnormal mass such as a tumor
word: outgrowth
word: cancer
word: mass
Hyponyms: sense: pathology: abnormal mass such as a tumor
word: tumor
Derived terms: sense: Terms derived from growth
word: aftergrowth
sense: Terms derived from growth
word: antigrowth
sense: Terms derived from growth
word: autogrowth
sense: Terms derived from growth
word: bottom growth
sense: Terms derived from growth
word: bovine growth hormone
sense: Terms derived from growth
word: chain growth polymerization
sense: Terms derived from growth
word: cogrowth
sense: Terms derived from growth
word: degrowth
sense: Terms derived from growth
word: diauxic growth
sense: Terms derived from growth
word: economic growth
sense: Terms derived from growth
word: edgrowth
sense: Terms derived from growth
word: epigrowth
sense: Terms derived from growth
word: establishment growth
sense: Terms derived from growth
word: exponential growth
sense: Terms derived from growth
word: geometric growth
sense: Terms derived from growth
word: grand period of growth
sense: Terms derived from growth
word: growth arrest line
sense: Terms derived from growth
word: growth cone
sense: Terms derived from growth
word: growth factor
sense: Terms derived from growth
word: growth form
sense: Terms derived from growth
word: growthful
sense: Terms derived from growth
word: growth hacker
sense: Terms derived from growth
word: growth hacking
sense: Terms derived from growth
word: growth hormone
sense: Terms derived from growth
word: growth investing
sense: Terms derived from growth
word: growthism
sense: Terms derived from growth
word: growthist
sense: Terms derived from growth
word: growthless
sense: Terms derived from growth
word: growthmania
sense: Terms derived from growth
word: growth medium
sense: Terms derived from growth
word: growth mindset
sense: Terms derived from growth
word: growth plate
sense: Terms derived from growth
word: growth rate
sense: Terms derived from growth
word: growth retardation
sense: Terms derived from growth
word: growth-retarding
sense: Terms derived from growth
word: growth ring
sense: Terms derived from growth
word: growthsome
sense: Terms derived from growth
word: growth spurt
sense: Terms derived from growth
word: growth stock
sense: Terms derived from growth
word: growthwise
sense: Terms derived from growth
word: growthy
sense: Terms derived from growth
word: hemiperipheral growth
sense: Terms derived from growth
word: high-growth
sense: Terms derived from growth
word: holoperipheral growth
sense: Terms derived from growth
word: hypergrowth
sense: Terms derived from growth
word: ingrowth
sense: Terms derived from growth
word: intergrowth
sense: Terms derived from growth
word: logistic growth
sense: Terms derived from growth
word: macrogrowth
sense: Terms derived from growth
word: megagrowth
sense: Terms derived from growth
word: microgrowth
sense: Terms derived from growth
word: misgrowth
sense: Terms derived from growth
word: mixoperipheral growth
sense: Terms derived from growth
word: negative growth
sense: Terms derived from growth
word: nerve growth factor
sense: Terms derived from growth
word: nongrowth
sense: Terms derived from growth
word: old-growth
sense: Terms derived from growth
word: old-growth forest
sense: Terms derived from growth
word: organic growth
sense: Terms derived from growth
word: outgrowth
sense: Terms derived from growth
word: overgrowth
sense: Terms derived from growth
word: postgrowth
sense: Terms derived from growth
word: regrowth
sense: Terms derived from growth
word: second-growth forest
sense: Terms derived from growth
word: slowth
sense: Terms derived from growth
word: spring growth
sense: Terms derived from growth
word: supergrowth
sense: Terms derived from growth
word: undergrowth
sense: Terms derived from growth
word: upgrowth
sense: Terms derived from growth
word: vascular endothelial growth factor
sense: Terms derived from growth
word: zero growth
sense: Terms derived from growth
word: zero population growth