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grow

/ɡroʊ/·verb

Animated scene
Fig. 1 — A seed lies half-buried in dark soil.
01Definition

To grow is the most general word for getting bigger — the one you reach for when nothing more specific is needed. A child grows, a plant grows, a company grows, a doubt grows. It is an old Germanic word tied to green and grass, and it carries their sense of living increase: gradual, natural, from the inside. Note the irregular past — grow, grew, grown — and that it works both ways: things grow on their own, and a farmer grows crops. To expand or enlarge is sharper; to grow is the plain, living baseline.

02In use
  • iThe seedlings grow fastest in the first warm weeks of spring.
  • iiAs the audience grew, the small event began to expand into a festival.
  • iiiThe song was dull at first, but it has grown on me completely.
03Collocations
  • grow rapidly
  • grow steadily
  • grow on someone
  • a growing concern
  • grow apart
  • continue to grow

Family growth (noun) · growing (adjective) · grown (adjective) · grower (noun)

04Relations

=expand, enlarge, increase, develop, swell

≠shrink, diminish, dwindle

06TOEFL & IELTS

Grow is the safe, neutral choice when a fancier verb is not needed, and examiners never penalise it — but two things trip candidates up. First, the irregular past: grow, grew, grown ('has grown', not 'has grew'). Second, register: 'grow up' means to mature (chiefly of people), while 'grow' covers any increase. In Task 1, 'grew steadily' or 'grew sharply' is a reliable trend phrase. It works transitively too: a firm grows its revenue.

07Asked
Is it 'grew' or 'grown'? What is the past tense of grow?
Grow is irregular: grow (present), grew (simple past), grown (past participle). Use grew for a finished past action — 'the town grew quickly'. Use grown with a helping verb — 'the town has grown', 'it had grown'. 'Has grew' is a common mistake; it is always 'has grown'.
What is the difference between grow and grow up?
Grow up means to mature into an adult, and is used chiefly of people — 'children grow up fast'. Grow, on its own, means to get bigger or develop and applies to almost anything — plants, businesses, feelings, numbers. So a child grows up, but a company grows, and interest in a topic grows.
What does 'it's growing on me' mean?
If something is growing on you, you are coming to like it gradually — you did not care for it at first, but it has won you over with time. It is common with songs, styles, people and ideas: 'I hated the design, but it's growing on me.'
What is the difference between 'grow into' and 'grow on'?
Grow into means to get big enough for, or to mature into a role — 'he'll grow into the coat', 'she grew into the job'. Grow on means to come to like gradually. Same verb, different phrasal partners: grow into is about fitting or maturing; grow on is about affection.
Can you 'grow' something, or do things only grow on their own?
Both work. Intransitively, things grow by themselves — 'plants grow', 'the economy grew'. Transitively, you grow something — 'farmers grow wheat', 'the company grew its user base'. The transitive business use ('grow the business', 'grow revenue') is now standard in reports, though some readers still hear it as informal.
What is the difference between grow and expand?
Grow is the plain, neutral word for getting bigger, at any speed and by natural increase — the scene above shows the plainest kind, a seed becoming a plant in its own time. Expand is sharper: to spread outward in size or scope, often deliberately. A company can grow or expand; grow stresses gradual, living increase, while expand stresses the spreading out.