growth in WordNet English dictionary

1. (biology) the process of an individual organism growing organically; a purely biological unfolding of events involved in an organism changing gradually from a simple to a more complex level
   "he proposed an indicator of osseous development in children"
   growth  growing  maturation  development  ontogeny  ontogenesis 
   
2. the gradual beginning or coming forth
   "figurines presage the emergence of sculpture in Greece"
   emergence  outgrowth  growth 
   
3. vegetation that has grown
   "a growth of trees"; "the only growth was some salt grass"
   growth 
   
4. something grown or growing
   "a growth of hair"
   growth 
   
5. a progression from simpler to more complex forms
   "the growth of culture"
   growth 
   
6. a process of becoming larger or longer or more numerous or more important
   "the increase in unemployment"; "the growth of population"
   increase  increment  growth 
   
7. (pathology) an abnormal proliferation of tissue (as in a tumor)
   growth