grow (gr?)v. grew (gro?o), grown (gr?n), grow·ing, grows v.intr.1. To increase in size by a natural process.2. a. To expand; gain: The business grew under new owners.b. To increase in amount or degree; intensify: The suspense grew.3. To develop and reach maturity.4. To be capable of growth; thrive: a plant that grows in shade.5. To become attached by or as if by the process of growth: tree trunks that had grown together.6. To come into existence from a source; spring up: love that grew from friendship.7. To come to be by a gradual process or by degrees; become: grow angry; grow closer.v.tr.1. To cause to grow; raise: grow tulips.2. To allow (something) to develop or increase by a natural process: grow a beard.3. Usage Problem To cause to increase or expand by concerted effort: strategies that grew the family business.Phrasal Verbs: grow into1. To develop so as to become: A boy grows into a man.2. To develop or change so as to fit: She grew into her job. He grew into the relationship slowly. grow on (or upon)1. To become gradually more evident to: A feeling of distrust grew on me.2. To become gradually more pleasurable or acceptable to: a taste that grows on a person. grow up To become an adult.Idiom: grow out of To develop or come into existence from: an article that grew out of a few scribbled notes.[Middle English growen, from Old English gr?wan; see ghr?- in Indo-European roots.]grow?er n.grow?ing·ly adv.Usage Note: Grow is most often used as an intransitive verb, as in The corn grew fast or Our business has been growing steadily for 10 years. This use dates back to the Middle Ages. In the 1700s, a transitive sense arose with the meaning “to produce or cultivate,” as in We grow corn in our garden. Then, starting in the late 1900s, people began to use grow with a nonliving thing or even an abstraction as the direct object, often in the context of politics or business, as in One of our key strategies is to grow our business by increasing the number of clients. This trend was widely criticized. In 1992, only 20 percent of the Usage Panel accepted the sentence above, and only 48 percent accepted We’ve got to grow our way out of this recession. These usages remain common, however, and resistance to them has lessened: in 2014, 60 percent of the Panel accepted the grow our business sentence, and 65 percent accepted the grow our way out of the recession sentence. But Panelists strongly frown upon the phrase grow down, probably because it seems oxymoronic: 96 percent of the Panel found it unacceptable.American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.grow (?r??) vb, grows, growing, grew (?ru?) or grown (?r??n) 1. (Biology) (of an organism or part of an organism) to increase in size or develop (hair, leaves, or other structures)2. (intr; usually foll by out of or from) to originate, as from an initial cause or source: the federation grew out of the Empire. 3. (intr) to increase in size, number, degree, etc: the population is growing rapidly. 4. (intr) to change in length or amount in a specified direction: some plants grow downwards; profits over the years grew downwards. 5. (copula; may take an infinitive) (esp of emotions, physical states, etc) to develop or come into existence or being gradually: to grow cold; to grow morose; he grew to like her. 6. (usually foll by: up) to come into existence: a close friendship grew up between them. 7. (foll by: together) to be joined gradually by or as by growth: the branches on the tree grew together. 8. (intr; foll by away, together, etc) to develop a specified state of friendship: the lovers grew together gradually; many friends grow apart over the years. 9. (when: intr, foll by with) to become covered with a growth: the path grew with weeds. 10. (Agriculture) to produce (plants) by controlling or encouraging their growth, esp for home consumption or on a commercial basis[Old English gr?wan; related to Old Norse gr?a, Old Frisian gr?ia, Old High German gruoen; see green, grass]Collins English Dictionary ? Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014grow (gro?) v. grew, grown, grow?ing. v.i. 1. to increase in size by a natural process of development. 2. to come into being and develop: a plant that grows wild here. 3. to form and increase in size by a process of inorganic accretion, as by crystallization. 4. to arise or issue as a natural development: Our friendship grew from common interests. 5. to increase gradually in size, amount, etc.; expand: Her influence has grown. 6. to become gradually attached or united by or as if by growth. 7. to come to be by degrees; become: to grow old. v.t. 8. to cause to grow: They grow corn; to grow a business. 9. to allow to grow: to grow a beard. 10. to cover with a growth (used in the passive): a field grown with corn. 11. grow into, a. to become large or tall enough to wear (an item of clothing). b. to become mature or experienced enough to handle. 12. grow on or upon, a. to increase in influence or effect. b. to become gradually more liked or accepted by. 13. grow out of, a. to become too large or mature for; outgrow. b. to originate in; develop from. 14. grow up, a. to be or become fully grown; attain maturity. b. to come into existence; arise. [before 900; Middle English; Old English gr?wan, c. Middle Dutch groeyen, Old High German grouwan, Old Norse gr?a] Random House Kernerman Webster’s College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.grow1. ‘grow’When children or young animals grow, they become bigger or taller. The past tense of grow is grew. The -ed participle is grown.When someone grows up, they gradually change from a child into an adult.Be Careful!Don’t confuse the verbs grow up and bring up. If you bring up a child, you look after it as it grows up. Don’t say ‘grow up a child’.Grow is also used to mean ‘become’.If you grow to feel or think something, you gradually start to feel or think it.