Growth - Definition

n 1: (biology) 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: growth, 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 or longer or more numerous or
more important; "the increase in unemployment"; "the growth
of population" [syn: increase, increment, growth] [ant:
decrease, decrement]
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, growth]
6: (pathology) an abnormal proliferation of tissue (as in a
tumor)
7: something grown or growing; "a growth of hair"