spawn

1 of 2

verb

ˈspȯn 

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

Synonyms

Verb

• beget
• breed
• bring
• bring about
• bring on
• catalyze
• cause
• create
• do
• draw on
• effect
• effectuate
• engender
• generate
• induce
• invoke
• make
• occasion
• produce
• prompt
• result (in)
• translate (into)
• work
• yield

Noun

• fruit
• get
• issue
• offspring
• posterity
• progeny
• seed

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

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

Quite a few scary movies are made every year, and a decent amount of those spawn sequels. —Christian Zilko, IndieWire, 16 Oct. 2024

Directly hitting a powerful combatant with a Diamond Lance spawns Stasis Crystals (not just bosses and vehicles) Ursa Furiosa/Spirit of the Bear (Titan) – Max Super energy gain up to 20% from 15% in PvE. Cuirass of the Falling Star (Titan) – Melee final blows when amplified grant Super energy. —Paul Tassi, Forbes, 4 Oct. 2024

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

Kids Definition

spawn

1 of 2 verb

ˈspȯn 

ˈspän

1

: to deposit or fertilize eggs

fish swimming upstream to spawn

2

: to produce young especially in large numbers

3

: generate, bring forth

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