offspring

noun

USAWF-spring/ˈɔfspɹɪŋ/UKOF-spring/ˈɒfspɹɪŋ/

Pluraloffspring, offsprings

5 meanings of offspring

1
nouncountable
A son or daughter of a particular parent.
Their only offspring just finished college this spring.
Every parent wants the best for their offspring.
Similarchild, progeny
Note
2
nouncountable
The babies or young produced by an animal or plant.
The cow's first offspring was a healthy calf.
Sea turtles leave their offspring to fend for themselves.
Similaryoung, progeny
3
nouncountable
Someone who comes from a person's family line, even many generations later.
She is a distant offspring of a famous explorer.
The king's offspring spread across many countries over the centuries.
Similardescendant, scion
Oppositeancestor, forebear
4
nounfigurativelycountable
Something created as the result of work or effort.
Like a plant that grows from a seed you once planted.
This novel is the offspring of ten years of hard work.
The new app is the offspring of a small student project.
Similarproduct, brainchild, creation
5
nouncountable
A computer process that another process starts up.
Like a helper that a worker calls in to finish one small job.
When the program runs, it creates an offspring to handle the download.
Each offspring closes automatically when its task is done.
Similarchild
Oppositeparent
Note

Practice

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Origin

From Old English ofspring, made from off- plus spring.