WORD DEFINITION: Growth

In class today, Brett and Katie tacked about 50 pages of computer paper on the wall. Each page had a word in bold, some nouns, some verbs. When they told us to grab a page everyone rushed to the wall in a stampede. The word on our page is now our topic for the rest of the semester. My word is “growth.” This post is dedicated to the complete definition of growth and the beginning of its connection to the Line.

Definition according to Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary:

1) A stage in the process of growing | The process of growing | Progressive development

2) Something that grows or has grown | An abnormal proliferation of tissue (as a tumor) | Outgrowth | The result of growth

3) Producing especially by growing

4) Anticipated progressive growth especially in capital value and income

Synonyms:

*Words I came up with in class:

Development, Change, Evolution, Maturity, Addition, Progression, Expansion, Extension

*Words from Merriam-Webster Online Thesaurus:

 Elaboration, Evolution, Expansion, Progression, Development, Maturing, Ripening, Excrescence, Lump, Tumor

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Antonyms:

*From class:

Atrophy, Loss, Stagnation, Simplification, Digression

*From Merriam-Webster Online Thesaurus:

Regression, Reversion, Decay, Decline, Degeneration, Deterioration, Shriveling, Wilting, Death, End, Exit, Expiration

Other context not explored or unspecified in the dictionary:

Changing as a person <Growing to like an idea>

Growth or culturing <Population of cultured bacteria>

Growth in something measured <Increased speed or height>

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Parts of Speech:

n. Growth (without article) “I see growth in your heart, Mr. Grinch; you have learned to love.”

n. A Growth (with article) “I see a growth in your heart, Mr. Grinch; you have seven days left.”

Google Search Results:

1) Growth, a 2010 film by Gabriel Cowan

2) Smart Growth America, an organization dedicated to bettering the development and maintenance of towns and cities.

3) Africa’s Hopeful Economies: The Sun Shines Bright, an Economist article about the population growth of African nations.

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Searches related to Growth:

growth movie | growth chart

growth quotes | growth pokemon

growth synonym | economic growth

growth hormone | personal growth

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Images for Growth:

Examples of Growth:

A child maturing into an adult

The argument or thesis of a paper developing into body paragraphs

The short vegetation on the floor of a forest, also known as undergrowth

Evolution of a species over time

Brainstorming ideas

Moving past a disagreement with someone and learning from it

A mole on skin

The dinosaur toys that expand in water

Making a collection

Examples of Growth on the Line I had not thought about earlier:

I revisited the creek behind Cohen where I had photographed the water. Today, after having rained, the water level rose. Therefore, there was growth in the amount of water that flowed through the creek.

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Also, I noticed the speed at which the water flows increases at steep points, such as underneath the fallen tree, compared to the even parts of the creek bed. The speed of the water experienced growth.

The most interesting aspect of my word is that is has so much range. It makes me wonder that somewhere in the development of the English language someone thought this word was very important so they used it to describe many different things in the world. They looked at changes and increases in the physical world as well as in conceptual thoughts. Now we can connect a myriad of diverse objects and ideas with one simple concept called growth.

Boundaries of Growth:

Growth has restrictions. It can describe change, especially increase in size, but cannot describe change when something decreases in size. Additionally, growth represents maturity but falls off somewhere in the junction of aging and peak mental maturity. If a man is old, he has hit his limit of physical growth yet his mind continues to show growth and maturity from his experiences. So is he still in growth? In the example of the growth of an essay, body paragraphs are meant to be the pinnacle of the growth of ideas but also hold the most narrow and analyzed thoughts which contradict this idea of broad development. Lastly, evolution is a type of growth meant to fit a species for its best chances of survival. This also means that some traits are lost and other traits are specified, both instances differing from growth and its connection to addition.