forgrow

F4O1R1G2R1O1W4

verb

To grow to excess or out of shape; grow unduly.

Scrabble 14

Meanings

verbforgrow (third-person singular simple present forgrows, present participle forgrowing, simple past forgrew, past participle forgrown)

present singular third person forgrows · participle present forgrowing · past forgrew · participle past forgrown

  1. intransitiveobsoleteTo grow to excess or out of shape; grow unduly.

    A terror to the new made folke, which neuer erst had knowne So foule a Dragon in their life, so monstrously foregrowne, So great a ground thy poyson paunch did vnderneath thée hide.

    1567, Arthur Golding, transl., The XV Bookes of P. Ouidius Naso, entytuled Metamorphosis, Book 1
  2. intransitiveobsoleteTo become grown over; overgrow; become covered with growth (usually one that is excessive or unsightly).

    Plutarch saith that mens minds do rust and forgrow through idlenes […]

    1595, Jacques Hurault, translated by Arthur Golding, Politicke, Moral and Martial Discourses, London: Adam Islip, Book 2, Chapter 9, p. 298
    1 more example

    And after the floode was passed & Noy and his housholde come out of the arke, the worlde beyng deuided among his thre sonnes, Sem, Cham, and Iaphethe, and that the people began eftsones to multiplye and increase, the worlde was so forgrowen in wickednes, that there was none found, that truely worshipped god […]

    1561, John Gough, “To the Christian Reader”, in A Godly Boke Wherein is Contayned Certayne Fruitefull, Godlye, and Necessarye Rules, London: William Seres

Origin

  1. Old Englishforgrōwan“to grow up, grow into, increase, overgrow”
  2. Middle Englishforgrowen
  3. Englishforgrow

From Middle English forgrowen, from Old English forgrōwan (“to grow up, grow into, increase, overgrow”), equivalent to for- + grow.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

forgrow. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/forgrow

MLA

“forgrow.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/forgrow. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “forgrow,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/forgrow.

Source: forgrow on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.