Definition of "sprout" [sprout]

• To begin to grow; give off shoots or buds. (verb-intransitive)
• To emerge and develop rapidly. (verb-intransitive)
• To cause to come forth and grow. (verb-transitive)
• Young plant growth, such as a bud or shoot. (noun)
• Something resembling or suggestive of a sprout, as in rapid growth: "a tall blond sprout of a boy” ( Anne Tyler). (noun)

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.

• "One: eastern redcedar doesn't sprout from a stump like, say, locust."
• "Crabs, starfish and other deep sea creatures swarm small patches of corals, and tiny sea anemones sprout from the sand like miniature forests across a lunar-like landscape illuminated only by the lights of the sub, otherwise living in a deep, dark environment far from the sun's reach."
• "As a writing instructor once told me, “A novel sprout is a very delicate thing and too early or vigorous of a critique can damage it.”"