spawn

• (UK) IPA^(key): /spɔːn/

  • Audio (Southern England)

    (file)

• (US) IPA^(key): /spɔn/
• (cot–caught merger) IPA^(key): /spɑn/
• (Southern American English) IPA^(key): /spɑɒn/
• Rhymes: -ɔːn, Rhymes: -ɑn

Recorded since 1413; from Middle English spawnen, from Anglo-Norman espaundre, from Old French espandre, from Latin expandere (“stretch out; spread out”, verb). Doublet of expand. Compare also Middle English spalden, spolden, spawden (“to cut open (a fish)”).

spawn (third-person singular simple present spawns, present participle spawning, simple past and past participle spawned)

1. (transitive) To produce or deposit (eggs) in water.

   A frog spawns thousands of tadpoles every year.

2. (transitive) To generate, bring into being, especially non-mammalian beings in very large numbers.
3. (transitive) To bring forth in general.

   The web server spawns a new process to handle each client's request.

4. (transitive) To induce (aquatic organisms) to spawn.
5. (transitive) To plant with fungal spawn.
6. (intransitive) To deposit (numerous) eggs in water.
   • 2014 April 20, Richard Conniff, “An evolutionary family drama”, in The New York Times‎:

     Alewives are anadromous fish: Born in freshwater, they spend their lives in the ocean, returning annually to their birthplaces to spawn.

7. (intransitive) To reproduce, especially in large numbers.
8. (ergative, video games) To appear, or cause (something or someone) to appear, spontaneously in a game world at a particular place and time.

   Hyponym: respawn

   We put down torches to stop creepers from spawning.

9. (ergative, figuratively, Internet slang) To appear, or cause (something or someone) to appear, unexpectedly and seemingly out of nowhere.

   Where did he come from? Bro just spawned in.

   • 2022 April 21, @BibsCorner, Twitter‎, archived from the original on 11 March 2024:

     Mavs fans really be spawning out of nowhere.

   • 2022 May 24, @ambarlucid, Twitter‎, archived from the original on 11 March 2024:

     So many virgos have spawned in my life lately

   • 2023 March 10, u/beskardboard, “rule”, in Reddit‎, r/196, archived from the original on 11 March 2024:

     I swear a new vtuber with 250,000 subscribers and wildly transphobic views just spawns every other fucking week

   • 2023 March 22, @pickuplinesonig, Twitter‎, archived from the original on 11 March 2024:

     rizz so strong the bf just spawned out of nowhere

   • 2023 July 9, @upblissed, Twitter‎, archived from the original on 11 March 2024:

     bro jus spawns in when the word cuck is mentioned

   • 2024 March 3, @swagmoneie, Twitter‎, archived from the original on 11 March 2024:

     God spawning in a new streamer and fans for him every week:

   • 2021 December 20, u/Nil4u, “Construction of a building starterpack.”, in Reddit‎, r/starterpacks, archived from the original on 11 March 2024:

     McDonalds skips the whole process and just spawns a new building somewhere

10. (intransitive, figuratively, Internet slang, humorous) Of a person or non-egg-laying animal: to be born.

    That kid just spawned and looks like he's already done with life.

    • 2021 April 16, u/crippl3r, “Life, the game!”, in Reddit‎, r/teenagers, archived from the original on 11 March 2024:

      I spawned in Turkey. I wasn't given an option on difficulty. It was automatically set on the hardest.

    • 2023 March 15, u/The-Clumsy-Pirate, “This is OB, short for Orca Beaver for obvious reasons. Children's Tylenol 5ml smol syringe for comparisson.”, in Reddit‎, r/IllegallySmolCats, archived from the original on 11 March 2024:

      Oh he is entirely too smol! Just spawned and already running a drug ring!! ❤️

    • 2024 January 11, @bassantaz, Twitter‎, archived from the original on 11 March 2024:

      dude literally just spawned and already gave up

From Middle English spawne, from the verb (see above).

spawn (countable and uncountable, plural spawn or spawns)

1. The numerous eggs of an aquatic organism.
2. Mushroom mycelium prepared for (aided) propagation.
3. Any germ or seed, even a figurative source.
   1. (often derogatory) Children; offspring.

   This dreadful idea is the spawn of a large business conglomerate.

   • 2012 June 3, Nathan Rabin, “TV: Review: THE SIMPSONS (CLASSIC): “Mr. Plow” (season 4, episode 9; originally aired 11/19/1992)”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name)‎:

     Even the blithely unselfconscious Homer is more than a little freaked out by West’s private reverie, and encourages his spawn to move slowly away without making eye contact with the crazy man.

4. (horticulture) The buds or branches produced from underground stems.
5. (video games) Synonym of spawn point.

• WPANs, pawns