spawn
The numerous eggs of an aquatic organism.
Noun
- The numerous eggs of an aquatic organism.
- Mushroom mycelium prepared for (aided) propagation.
- Any germ or seed, even a figurative source.
- This dreadful idea is the spawn of a large business conglomerate.
-
(often derogatory) Children; offspring.
- Even the blithely unselfconscious Homer is more than a little freaked out by West’s private reverie, and encourages his spawn to move slowly away without making eye contact with the crazy man. - 2012 June 3, Nathan...
- The buds or branches produced from underground stems.
- Synonym of spawn point.
Synonyms: spawn point
Origin
From Middle English spawne, from the verb (see above).
Forms
Derived
crotch spawn demonspawn frogspawn hellspawn mushroom spawn queerspawn respawn spawn camp spawn camper spawn eater spawnkill spawnling spawn point spawnproof
Verb
- To produce or deposit (eggs) in water.
- A frog spawns thousands of tadpoles every year.
- To generate, bring into being, especially nonmammalian beings in very large numbers.
- To bring forth in general.
- The web server spawns a new process to handle each client's request.
- Weather Underground, a covert organization that spawned countless other would-be revolutionary cadres - the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA), the Black Liberation Army, the May 19 Communist Organization each of which -...
- To induce (aquatic organisms) to spawn.
- To plant with fungal spawn.
- To deposit (numerous) eggs in water.
- Alewives are anadromous fish: Born in freshwater, they spend their lives in the ocean, returning annually to their birthplaces to spawn. - 2014 April 20, Richard Conniff, “An evolutionary family drama”, in The New York...
- To reproduce, especially in large numbers.
- To appear, or cause (something or someone) to appear, spontaneously in a game world at a particular place and time.
- We put down torches to stop creepers from spawning.
Hyponyms: respawn
- To appear, or cause (something or someone) to appear, unexpectedly and seemingly out of nowhere.
- Where did he come from? Bro just spawned in.
- Mavs fans really be spawning out of nowhere. - 2022 April 21, @BibsCorner, Twitter, archived from the original on 11 Mar 2024:
- So many virgos have spawned in my life lately - 2022 May 24, @ambarlucid, Twitter, archived from the original on 11 Mar 2024:
- Of a person or non-egglaying animal: to be born.
- That kid just spawned and looks like he's already done with life.
- I spawned in Turkey. I wasn't given an option on difficulty. It was automatically set on the hardest. - 2021 April 16, u/crippl3r, “Life, the game!”, in Reddit, r/teenagers, archived from the original on 11 Mar 2024:
- Oh he is entirely too smol! Just spawned and already running a drug ring!! ❤️ - 2023 March 15, u/The-Clumsy-Pirate, “This is OB, short for Orca Beaver for obvious reasons. Children's Tylenol 5ml smol syringe for...
Origin
Recorded since 1413; from Middle English spawnen, from Anglo-Norman espaundre, from Old French espandre, from Latin expandere (“stretch out; spread out”, verb). Doublet of expand. Compare also Middle English spalden, spolden, spawden (“to cut open (a fish)”).