outgrow means to become too big in size or too mature in age or outlook to continue to want, need, use, experience, or accept some object, practice, condition, belief, etc.
outgrow is pronounced /ˌaʊtˈɡɹəʊ/.
Why “outgrow” is a great word
To become too large or mature for something, such as clothing or a former interest, or to surpass something in growth. From the English prefix out- (meaning 'beyond' or 'surpassing') + the verb grow, first recorded in use 1585–95. Unlike 'surpass'—which focuses on exceeding in quality, degree, or achievement—or 'shed'—which emphasizes the deliberate act of discarding—outgrow implies a quiet, inevitable departure born of change from within. It is the child standing on tiptoe to prove the winter coat no longer buttons, the sudden strangeness of a long-held belief that no longer fits the shape of the mind, and the startling silence where a once-consuming passion used to hum. To outgrow is to carry the proof of your own becoming, written in the widening spaces between you and what you once were.
Etymology
From out- + grow.
verb
- To become too big in size or too mature in age or outlook to continue to want, need, use, experience, or accept some object, practice, condition, belief, etc.e.g.“Poorer children often have to wear whatever an older sibling has outgrown.”
- To grow faster or larger than.e.g.“The best adapted plant varieties tend to outgrow those less adapted.”
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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