proliferate Definition
pro·lif·er·ate (prō lif′ə rāt′, prə-)
transitive verb -·at′ed, -·at′·ing
- to reproduce (new parts) in quick succession
- to produce or create in profusion
Etymology: back-form. < proliferation < Fr prolifération < prolifère, proliferous + -ation
intransitive verb
- to grow by multiplying new parts, as by budding, in quick succession
- to multiply rapidly; increase profusely
proliferate Related Forms
pro·lif′·era′·tion noun
proliferate Synonyms
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
- ‹ proletary
- ‹ proletariat
- ‹ proletarianize
- ‹ proletarian
- ‹ prolepsis
- ‹ prolegomenon
- ‹ proleg
- ‹ prole
- ‹ prolate
- ‹ prolapse
- proliferation ›
- proliferous ›
- prolific ›
- proline ›
- prolix ›
- prolixity ›
- prolocutor ›
- prologue ›
- prologuize ›
- prolong ›

