spawn Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun the mass of eggs deposited by fish or amphibians or molluscs
  2. verb call forth
    breed; engender.
  3. verb lay spawn
    • The salmon swims upstream to spawn

WordNet

Spawn transitive verb
Etymology
OE. spanen, OF. espandre, properly, to shed, spread, L. expandere to spread out. See Expand.
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Spawned ; present participle & verbal noun Spawning
Definitions
  1. To produce or deposit (eggs), as fishes or frogs do.
  2. To bring forth; to generate; -- used in contempt.
    One edition [of books] spawneth another. Fuller.
Spawn intransitive verb
Definitions
  1. To deposit eggs, as fish or frogs do.
  2. To issue, as offspring; -- used contemptuously.
Spawn noun
Etymology
See Spawn, v. t.
Definitions
  1. The ova, or eggs, of fishes, oysters, and other aquatic animals.
  2. Any product or offspring; -- used contemptuously.
  3. (Hort.) The buds or branches produced from underground stems.
  4. (Bot.) The white fibrous matter forming the matrix from which fungi.

Webster 1913