spawn

1 of 2

verb

ˈspȯn How to pronounce spawn (audio)
ˈspän
spawned; spawning; spawns

intransitive verb

1
: to deposit or fertilize spawn
2
: to produce young especially in large numbers

transitive verb

1
a
: to produce or deposit (eggs)
used of an aquatic animal
b
: to induce (fish) to spawn
c
: to plant with mushroom spawn
2
: bring forth, generate
the idea spawned controversy
spawner noun

spawn

2 of 2

noun

1
: the eggs of aquatic animals (such as fishes or oysters) that lay many small eggs
2
: product, offspring
also : offspring in great numbers
3
: the seed, germ, or source of something
4
: mycelium especially prepared (as in bricks) for propagating mushrooms

Examples of spawn in a Sentence

Verb The health-food craze spawned a multimillion-dollar industry. the incident that spawned a generation of student protests a TV show that spawned a host of imitations Noun Pacific salmon return to Alaskan streams to deposit their spawn. sometimes I think those little brats are the spawn of Satan himself
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Verb
The filmmaker broke through with his supernatural action-adventure feature Night Watch which spawned the sequel Day Watch. Mike Fleming Jr, Deadline, 22 Nov. 2024 Quinn isn’t the only author featured in the series to have gotten a screen-adaptation for her work, as Casey McQuiston, who wrote Red, White & Royal Blue (which spawned an Amazon movie adaptation of the same name), will also be there. Kimberlee Speakman, People.com, 21 Nov. 2024
Noun
The logging will periodically cloud the waters of Yellow Creek, where threatened Oregon Coast coho salmon go to spawn. April Ehrlich, ProPublica, 12 Nov. 2024 Klamath Chairman William Ray said his tribe had fished the last salmon out of the river in the early 20th century after the first of the dams, Copco I, stopped fish from coming upstream to spawn. Debra Utacia Krol, USA TODAY, 5 Nov. 2024 See all Example Sentences for spawn 

Word History

Etymology

Verb

Middle English, from Anglo-French espandre to spread out, shed, scatter, spawn, from Latin expandere to expand

First Known Use

Verb

15th century, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense 1

Noun

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of spawn was in the 15th century

Dictionary Entries Near spawn

Cite this Entry

“Spawn.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/spawn. Accessed 28 Nov. 2024.

Kids Definition

spawn

1 of 2 verb
ˈspȯn How to pronounce spawn (audio)
ˈspän
1
: to deposit or fertilize eggs
fish swimming upstream to spawn
2
: to produce young especially in large numbers
3
spawner noun

spawn

2 of 2 noun
1
: the eggs of aquatic animals (as fishes or oysters) that lay many small eggs
2
: product sense 2, offspring
also : something produced in large quantities

More from Merriam-Webster on spawn

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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