/spɔːn/, /spɔn/, /spɑn/
OriginRecorded 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)”).
- transitiveTo produce or deposit (eggs) in water.
“A frog spawns thousands of tadpoles every year.”
- transitiveTo generate, bring into being, especially non-mammalian beings in very large numbers.
- transitiveTo bring forth in general.
“The web server spawns a new process to handle each client's request.”
- transitiveTo induce (aquatic organisms) to spawn.
- transitiveTo plant with fungal spawn.
- intransitiveTo 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.”
- intransitiveTo reproduce, especially in large numbers.
- ergativeTo 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.”
- Internet, ergative, figurativelyTo 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.”
“So many virgos have spawned in my life lately”
- Internet, figuratively, humorous, intransitiveOf a person or non-egg-laying 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.”
“Oh he is entirely too smol! Just spawned and already running a drug ring!! ❤️”
- countable, uncountableThe numerous eggs of an aquatic organism.
- countable, uncountableMushroom mycelium prepared for (aided) propagation.
- countable, uncountableAny germ or seed, even a figurative source.
“This dreadful idea is the spawn of a large business conglomerate.”
- countable, uncountableThe buds or branches produced from underground stems.
- countable, uncountableSynonym of spawn point.
Formsspawns(present, singular, third-person) · spawning(participle, present) · spawned(participle, past) · spawned(past) · spawn(plural) · spawns(plural)