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growth

noun
SayGROHTH/ɡɹoʊθ/UK/ɡɹəʊθ/

Pluralgrowths

5 meanings of growth

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  1. 1
    increasenouncountable or uncountable
    An increase in size, number, value or strength, especially of an economy or a business.

    The company reported strong growth in its overseas markets last year.

    Population growth in the region has slowed over the past decade.

    UsageSay growth in sales or profits, the growth of a town, and rapid or slow growth.

    Note

    The broad sense, built from grow plus -th, the old suffix that turns a verb into an abstract noun. English kept the abstract idea wide enough for anything that can increase, from sales to Hayek's "free growth of ideas" in 1949.

  2. 2
    noununcountable
    The process by which a living thing gets bigger, taller, or more developed.

    Botanists tracked the growth of the seedlings under different light conditions.

    Hormones regulate growth during childhood and adolescence.

    UsageFor the process, say the growth of a plant or child; a growth usually means a lump or new plants.

    Similardevelopment, maturation

  3. 3
    noununcountable
    Development of a person's mind, feelings or character, often through experience or hardship.

    The memoir traces her emotional growth through years of recovery.

    Mentors can encourage growth by challenging people to face their fears.

    UsageOften personal growth or emotional growth, and room for growth in a job.

    Similardevelopment

  4. 4
    nouncountable or uncountable
    Living matter, such as vegetation or hair, that has grown or is growing on a surface or in a place.

    A dense growth of ferns lined the forest floor.

    Years of neglect had left a tangled growth covering the fence.

    UsageOften a growth of moss or ferns for one mass; separate outgrowths are growths.

    Similarvegetation

Less common meaning

  1. 5
    lumpnouncountable
    An abnormal mass of tissue, such as a tumor, that develops in or on the body.

    The surgeon removed a benign growth from his lower back.

    A rapidly enlarging growth prompted further testing.

    UsageOften with a word saying what kind: a benign growth, a malignant growth.

    Similartumor, lump, mass

    Note

    Pathology narrows the countable growth to tissue that should not be there. Because the word does not say what kind of mass it is, it often takes a qualifier, such as benign, malignant, or rapidly enlarging. That vagueness makes it a cautious word to use before a diagnosis, and it keeps the medical meaning close to the general outgrowth sense.

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Origin

Formed from grow plus the abstract noun-forming suffix -th. It can be compared with Old Frisian grēd ("meadow, pasture"), Middle High German gruot ("greens, fresh growth, shoot"), and Old Norse gróðr ("growth, crop").

Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 5 facts