spawn

Everyday

1. When fish or frogs spawn, they lay lots of eggs in water. tree →
2. Spawn is the mass of eggs laid by fish, frogs or toads, like frogspawn. tree →
3. To spawn something means to cause many new things to appear, as in the film spawned three sequels. tree →
4. (games) In video games, to spawn means for a player or character to appear in the game world; the spawn point is where they appear. tree →

In the lessons

In science lessons on life cycles, frogs lay frogspawn in ponds in spring; it hatches into tadpoles. Salmon swim upriver to spawn. In computer games, players spawn and respawn after losing a life. In everyday talk, one popular thing can spawn many copies.

Examples

• Frogs spawn in ponds in early spring. tree →
• We saw a clump of frogspawn in the school pond. tree →
• Salmon swim up the river to spawn. tree →
• The film spawned a whole series of toys. tree →
• In the game you spawn next to a castle. tree →
• After you lose a life, you respawn at the last checkpoint. tree →
• Zombies spawn at night in that game. tree →

Note

Spawn as a noun is uncountable: some spawn, not a spawn. Frogspawn is written as one word. Respawn means spawn again. Older and formal use: spawn can sound negative, as in spawn of the devil in old stories.