How to Use sprout in a Sentence

sprout

1 of 2 verb
  • Potatoes will sprout in the bag if kept in a warm place.
  • The garden is sprouting weeds.
  • The tree is already sprouting leaves.
  • She dreamed that her boss had sprouted horns.
  • Hair sprouted on his face.
  • He sprouted a beard since the last time I saw him.
  • Lay the carrots and Brussels sprouts out to roast on the pan(s).
    Julia O'Malley, Anchorage Daily News, 9 Mar. 2023
  • Your pit should start to sprout roots and a stem in about six weeks.
    Kate McGregor, House Beautiful, 1 Aug. 2023
  • Over a few weeks, the bulbs will sprout Kelly green stalks and showy blooms.
    Grace Haynes, Southern Living, 27 Oct. 2023
  • Any warmer and the bulbs may begin to sprout leaves ahead of schedule.
    Charlotte Germane, Better Homes & Gardens, 6 Sep. 2022
  • My to-do lists have started to sprout to-do lists of their own.
    M. Carrie Allan, Washington Post, 15 Dec. 2023
  • This Brussels sprout slaw is perfect for any time of the year.
    Southern Living Editors, Southern Living, 7 Oct. 2023
  • The nodes will sprout new branches to bear this summer’s crop.
    Nan Sterman, San Diego Union-Tribune, 3 Feb. 2024
  • Its limbs were torn in the wind, but within 18 months, the young tree was sprouting new shoots.
    Zoë Schlanger, The Atlantic, 28 Mar. 2024
  • Keep soil sown to beets moist and the seed should sprout in about a week during warmish weather.
    Orlando Sentinel, 4 Mar. 2023
  • Brussels sprouts: Among the last to go in the pot, the Brussels sprouts only cook for 30 minutes at the end.
    Southern Living Test Kitchen, Southern Living, 1 Dec. 2023
  • Thus, the cantaloupe and beans made a valiant effort to sprout and then withered away.
    Jeanette Marantos, Los Angeles Times, 1 Sep. 2022
  • And there’s this: craft grain mills have sprouted (pun intended) in the area.
    Pamela Wright, BostonGlobe.com, 18 Apr. 2023
  • But the singed tree remained standing, and has shown a new sign of hope: New green leaves sprouting among the dead.
    Caitlin O'Kane, CBS News, 19 Sep. 2023
  • That is when the corn is at its maximum height, begins to sprout and pops a crown of thin spikes.
    Sarah Bowman, The Indianapolis Star, 22 Aug. 2022
  • His jaw grew square, and his face sprouted the beginnings of a beard.
    Kurt Streeter Mason Trinca, New York Times, 5 May 2023
  • The seeds will begin to take color and sprout into a fully live plant in about 1-2 weeks.
    Tim Chan, The Hollywood Reporter, 5 Dec. 2023
  • Then, there are the valet stands that magically sprout from the ground at the start of dinner service.
    Dave Schilling, Los Angeles Times, 11 Oct. 2023
  • What about the weed-selling bodegas and trucks that had been sprouting up across the city throughout the summer?
    Jia Tolentino, The New Yorker, 19 Feb. 2024
  • Tines will sprout skyward from these main beams and, in the case of mule deer, will typically fork.
    Scott Bestul, Field & Stream, 28 Sep. 2023
  • After this brief flash of light, stems begin to sprout, not skyward but down into the soil.
    Ruby Tandoh, The New Yorker, 21 Oct. 2022
  • Small tomato plants sprouted in tidy rows on one side of the road and pima cotton on the other.
    Jessica Garrison, Los Angeles Times, 28 Sep. 2023
  • In some places, clusters of baby Joshua trees sprout from shrubs or from the roots of other plants that burned and toppled over.
    Ali Martin, The Christian Science Monitor, 16 Aug. 2023
  • Dandelion flowers sprout from the cracks in the pavement, and the property looks like a prairie dotted with the yellow weed.
    Discover Magazine, 4 Apr. 2024
  • After a period of watering, the bulbs will sprout new green growth and gardeners can have green onions all year round – and beyond.
    Alex Groves, Los Angeles Times, 14 Mar. 2024
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sprout

2 of 2 noun
  • The sprout begins to send leaves above those of the host, and sinewy roots creep down the trunk and into the soil.
    Dorothy Wickenden, The New Yorker, 12 Dec. 2022
  • All plants have a life cycle from when a seed sprouts to when the plant dies.
    Lynn Coulter, Better Homes & Gardens, 10 Apr. 2023
  • Now, seedlings are beginning to sprout through the ground.
    BostonGlobe.com, 13 June 2021
  • Ages 3+ Easter is a great time to plant those seeds and see what sprouts.
    Amanda Garrity, Good Housekeeping, 15 Feb. 2023
  • There will be more branches to sprout from the Francona tree.
    BostonGlobe.com, 28 Aug. 2021
  • No longer was there a dilemma about what to do with the little sprout.
    Paul Cappiello, The Courier-Journal, 8 Oct. 2021
  • While a stump remains, the tree’s root system may be alive and able to re-sprout.
    Beth Botts, chicagotribune.com, 22 Aug. 2021
  • The cloves go in the ground in mid-fall, sprout at the end of winter, grow through spring, and are ready to harvest in summer.
    Shirley MacFarland, cleveland, 1 Oct. 2021
  • An assortment of greens, vines and sprouts poke out of the earth in rows, covering a chunk of the ground.
    oregonlive, 17 July 2023
  • Then, all that’s left to do is put the bottle in a bright location and wait for your seeds to sprout.
    Rachel Klein, Popular Mechanics, 17 Jan. 2023
  • The green sprouts of the private sector were beginning to grow.
    John Kleinheinz, Fortune, 31 May 2023
  • That would limit the space in which sprouts could develop.
    Neil Sperry, San Antonio Express-News, 3 Mar. 2023
  • This humble root vegetable is ready to be the next Brussels sprout.
    Jessica Goldstein, Vulture, 23 Dec. 2021
  • Use Cut Vine and Stump Killer to treat the pruning cut on unwanted seedlings that sprout.
    Calvin Finch, San Antonio Express-News, 25 June 2021
  • For a book lover with a green thumb, these sprout bookmarks are an adorable way to meld their two hobbies.
    Mark Stock, Men's Health, 10 Oct. 2022
  • Out back there's an enormous swan-neck wing that sprouts from the sloping roofline rather than the decklid.
    Eric Stafford, Car and Driver, 10 June 2023
  • Beams of light sprout out of her body, forcing onlookers to their knees in awe.
    Anne Cohen, refinery29.com, 14 May 2021
  • An imposing beard sprouts from his face like a holy land mufti.
    Jeff Weiss, Los Angeles Times, 28 Mar. 2023
  • Our fries, Brussels sprouts, and wings were fully cooked.
    Caroline Thomason, Health, 9 Mar. 2023
  • Some of these cacti, in fact, sprout flowers that have evolved to bloom at night just to attract bats.
    Samanth Subramanian, Quartz, 3 May 2022
  • Don’t have potatoes, turnips, Brussels sprouts, or mushrooms in the house?
    Southern Living Test Kitchen, Southern Living, 1 Dec. 2023
  • Smash sprouts: Place cooked Brussels sprouts on a large-rimmed baking sheet.
    Anna Theoktisto, Southern Living, 20 Nov. 2023
  • My salvia greggii ‘Lipstick’ used to die completely back in the winter and sprout again in the spring.
    oregonlive, 19 Feb. 2022
  • On the field, a lone figure stood in a green spotlight, backed by the shadow of an unfolding sprout.
    James Poniewozik, New York Times, 23 July 2021
  • Coaching trees sprout, and that can results in coaches with the same name being hired over and over again.
    Tom Schad, USA Today, 22 Nov. 2022
  • Patrolling for nascent issues is key, starting in the spring and checking for young sprouts.
    Tovah Martin, Washington Post, 9 Aug. 2023
  • When the sprout gets about 6 inches tall, cut it back to about 3 inches to encourage more root growth.
    Monique Valeris, Good Housekeeping, 18 May 2021
  • Great ideas usually start out small, sprout, and then begin to grow.
    Joanne Kempinger Demski, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 17 Mar. 2022
  • In a large bowl, add the Brussels sprouts and toss well with all the other ingredients, minus the butter.
    Olivia Evans, The Courier-Journal, 30 Jan. 2024
  • When the sprouts are big enough, they are transplanted in uncultivated lands around their town owned or rented by the family.
    Tucker Harris, Washington Post, 23 Jan. 2024

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'sprout.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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