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Definition of "proliferous" []

  • Zoology Reproducing freely by means of buds and side branches, as corals do. (adjective)
  • Botany Freely producing buds or offshoots, especially from unusual places, as shoots from flowers or fruits from fruits. (adjective)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "proliferous" in a sentence
  • "In some of the instances of so-called proliferous pears the carpels would seem to be entirely absent, and the dilated portion of the axis to be alone repeated."
  • "It was made for Bishop Lothar Franz von Schönborn (reigned from 1693 until 1729; he was also Elector-Archsbishop of Mainz, and one of the most famous and proliferous builders of the German baroque), whose coat of arms is embroidered on the seam:"
  • "For example: an amoeba might gaily multiply itself into proliferous plurality, gobbling up all the sugary water in the vicinity -- until there is no more sugar and too many amoebae, who then all abruptly die."