wachsen
Translation
to grow, to increase, to expand, to wax
Examples
Das Kind wuchs sehr schnell.
The child grew very quickly.
Der Baum wuchs in den Himmel.
The tree grew toward the sky.
Seine Angst wuchs mit jeder Minute.
His fear grew with every minute.
Grammar Patterns
((sth.)) grows ((by sth.)) sth. increases by sth. The revenue grew by 10 percent.
((sb./sth.)) grows sb./sth. grows The plant grows well in the garden.
Similar Words
Synonyms: zunehmen (to increase), größer werden (to become larger); Antonyms: schrumpfen (to shrink), abnehmen (to decrease)
Etymology
Derived from Old High German 'wahsan', it shares a root with the English 'wax', used to describe the moon growing larger ('waxing moon').
Memory Tips
Think of putting 'wax on' something to make it bigger. 'Wachsen' is the process of getting bigger or growing.