growth

n 1: the process of an individual organism growing organically; a

purely biological unfolding of events involved in an

organism changing gradually from a simple to a more

complex level; "he proposed an indicator of osseous

development in children" [syn: {growing}, {maturation},

{development}, {ontogeny}, {ontogenesis}] [ant: {nondevelopment}]

2: a progression from simpler to more complex forms; "the

growth of culture"

3: a process of becoming larger; "the increase in

unemployment"; "the growth of population" [syn: {increase},

{increment}] [ant: {decrease}, {decrease}]

4: vegetation that has grown; "a growth of trees"; "the only

growth was some salt grass"

5: the gradual beginning or coming forth; "figurines presage

the emergence of sculpture in Greece" [syn: {emergence}, {outgrowth}]

6: (pathology) an abnormal proliferation of tissue (as in a

tumor)

7: something grown or growing; "a growth of hair"