What does "sprout" mean?

Sprout: To shoot into ramifications. [Obs.] Bacon.

Additional senses

  1. 2.To cause to sprout; as, the rain will sprout the seed.
  2. 3.To deprive of sprouts; as, to sprout potatoes.
  3. 4.The shoot of a plant; a shoot from the seed, from the stump, or from the root or tuber, of a plant or tree; more rarely, a shoot from the stem of a plant, or the end of a branch.
  4. 5.pl. Young coleworts; Brussels sprouts. Johnson. Brussels sprouts (Bot.) See under Brussels.

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