proliferate

Word family

pro·lif·e·rate /prəˈlɪfəreɪt/ verb [intransitiveI]

INCREASE IN NUMBER OR AMOUNTif something proliferates, it increases quickly and spreads to many different places 激增，扩散

Computer courses continue to proliferate.

计算机课程层出不穷。

Examples from the Corpus

proliferate• Yet the idea of a post-apocalyptic city captivates the contemporary mind and its images continue to proliferate.• But unless I am much mistaken, the ingestion of strange materials really is proliferating.• By the 1970s, such names were proliferating.• Fears of mortgage defaults are adding pressure to an already depressed property market, while reports of industry feeling the squeeze proliferated.• The HIV virus is able to proliferate at an astonishing rate.• Child pornography is proliferating due to the increased use of computer chat rooms.• As with the Casket Letters, conflicting theories concerning the event have proliferated ever since.• Towns proliferate in civilizations: in cultures they remain embryonic.• The algae consumed waste products from the reef and under the intense artificial sunlight they proliferated in stringy green mats.• Fast-food restaurants have proliferated in the area.

Origin proliferate

(1800-1900) proliferation

Chinese

Syllable

Corpus

TOEFL BNC: 14314 COCA: 12185

proliferate