proliferate Hear it!

proliferate Definition

pro·lif·er·ate (prō lif′ə rāt′, prə-)

transitive verb -·at′ed, -·at′·ing

  1. to reproduce (new parts) in quick succession
  2. to produce or create in profusion

Etymology: back-form. < proliferation < Fr prolifération < prolifère, proliferous + -ation

intransitive verb

  1. to grow by multiplying new parts, as by budding, in quick succession
  2. to multiply rapidly; increase profusely

proliferate Related Forms

pro·lif′·era·tion noun

proliferate Synonyms

proliferate

v.

proliferate Usage Examples

Object

  • cell: The thick wall consists usually of proliferating large plant cells.
  • weapon: It continues to proliferate weapons of mass destruction in the Middle East.
  • technology: The PRC has proliferated such missile technology to a number of other countries, including regimes hostile to the United States.
  • number: I tried to establish how much mast sharing was going on, so eliminating the need for rival operators proliferating the number of masts.
  • state: While proliferating states are still a concern, a new threat has emerged in the form of terrorist groups.
  • channel: While it was designed to ease the navigation of proliferating channels, it had an indirect but profound consequence on the medium.

Preposition: on

Internet: Virus and Spam filtering for your inbound email Spam and viruses continue to proliferate on the Internet.

Preposition: at

rate: In the UK, mobile betting is proliferating at a striking rate.

Modifying Another Word

  • rapidly: In fairness to Symantec, they're trying to rush out patches as fast as they can to a rapidly proliferating virus.
  • now: Its cousins now proliferate in many northern gardens, their owners made hopeful by global warming.
  • also: Indeed, the references to Macbeth also proliferate in The Queen's Exchange.
  • not: Newspapers and periodicals did not proliferate until after 1850.
  • endlessly: Freedom entails service: it is not the freedom to fulfill an endlessly proliferating series of possibilities, but the freedom to serve.
  • indefinitely: It is thought that some cancer cells become " immortalized " because they express telomerase and can therefore continue to proliferate indefinitely.

Preposition: without

restraint: Following this mutation, the cancer cells acquire the ability to proliferate without the normal restraints.

Preposition: in

  • response: In contrast to controls, the CML PBMC failed to proliferate in response to MT antigens.
  • year: Bibliographic software has proliferated in the last few years to help us.
  • century: In fact, Keeper's Travels is a fairly standard animal story of the kind which proliferated in the early nineteenth century.
  • absence: In contrast, cancer cells proliferate in the absence of such signals.
  • environment: Now the bacteria are held with a chemical adhesive to the tooth surface, and the bacteria proliferate very quickly in this protected environment.

Browse dictionary entries near proliferate

  1. proletary
  2. proletariat
  3. proletarianize
  4. proletarian
  5. prolepsis
  6. prolegomenon
  7. proleg
  8. prole
  9. prolate
  10. prolapse
  1. proliferation
  2. proliferous
  3. prolific
  4. proline
  5. prolix
  6. prolixity
  7. prolocutor
  8. prologue
  9. prologuize
  10. prolong