grow

v.

1. To become larger

   increase, expand, swell, wax, pullulate, thrive, gain, enlarge, swell in substance, augment, advance, dilate, stretch, mount, build, burst forth, spread, burgeon, amplify, germinate, multiply, develop, abound, accumulate, mature, jump up, flourish, luxuriate, grow up, rise, sprout, shoot up, start up, spring up, spread like wildfire*, pop up*, jump up*, branch out*, fill out*, puff out.

   Antonyms lessen*, shrink*, wither. *

2. To change slowly

   become, develop, alter, tend, pass, evolve, flower, shift, flow, progress, advance, get, wax, turn into, work up, turn, improve, mellow, age, better, ripen, ripen into, blossom, assume the form of, open out, resolve itself into, mature.

   Antonyms continue*, regress*, preserve. *

3. To cultivate

   raise, nurture, tend, nurse, foster, produce, plant, breed, market.

   Antonyms harm*, impede*, neglect. *

4. To begin

   originate, start, arise; see begin 2.

5. To become

   develop into, grow to be, change to; see become 1.