grown

1. 1
   verb

   Past participle of grow.

   The town has grown rapidly since the new factory opened.

   Prices have grown steadily over the past decade.

   Note

   An irregular participle formed the old way, from grow plus the ending -n, while the simple past is grew. Because grow works with or without an object, grown does too: a town has grown, a farmer has grown wheat. It also takes the linking role, where an adjective follows instead of an object, as in she has grown tired of waiting.

2. 2
   adjectiveUS

   Of a person: fully developed into an adult.

   She's a grown woman who can handle her own finances.

   Two grown men were arguing over a single parking spot.

   Similaradult, mature

   Oppositeyoung

   Note

   In American English, the bare adjective says more than a person's age. It carries a sense of maturity and independence, the standing to act without anyone's permission. That is why it so often sits right before a noun in a pointed remark, as in a grown woman who can manage her own money, or two grown men squabbling over a parking spot.

3. 3
   adjective

   Covered by plant growth; overgrown.

   The ruins stood grown with moss and creeping vines.

   Within a few summers the empty lot lay grown over with brambles.

   Similarcovered

   Note

   Here the place is the subject, not the plants. A farm grown with trees is one the trees have taken over. Trees grown on a farm were planted there, which is the passive of the participle of grow. The preposition with does the work, and over often joins it, as in grown over with brambles. Overgrown says the same thing in a single word.

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