grower

English

Etymology

From grow +‎ -er.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈɡɹoʊɚ/

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

Noun

grower (plural growers)

1. A farmer; one who grows things.

   He was an orange grower from Florida.

2. Something that grows.

   These flowers are fast growers

   • 2015 February 7, Val Bourne, “The quiet man of the world of snowdrops”, in The Daily Telegraph (London), page G8:

     'The Bride' [a snowdrop variety], found in the early Seventies at Foxcote Farm near Cheltenham, was his first discovery. It's a poculiform (cup-shaped) G. elwesii with six pure white petals of the same length. Like many poculiforms […] it's not a strong grower.

3. Someone or something, especially music, that becomes more likeable over time. [from 1990s]

   I didn't like the song at first, but it is a real grower.

   • 1994, Mr. S.R. Winterton, “Bedtime Stories - The Singles”, in alt.fan.madonna‎^[1] (Usenet):

     Sanctury^[sic] - the least obvious single but what a grower. When I first heard this track I thought it was rather average. After playing the album several times, this was the one that kept coming into my head throughout the day.

   • 2001, Maximum Rock 'n' Roll, Issue 223‎^[2]:

     […] assimilating some vaguely psych, folk-rock, and other influences into their own twang without losing sense of style and taste: a grower, not a shower (that's show-er, not shower).

5. (slang) A man whose penis increases in size significantly when erect. [from 1990s]

   Antonym: shower

   • 1993, Barry Burns, “Muffin on Parade”, in soc.motss‎^[3] (Usenet):

     As a man who can best be described as a "grower not a shower", I helped Brent realize that many people in the gay community are concerned in a very adolescent way with their dick size, including me.

   • 1994, jenster, “Penis Size and other Eternal Questions”, in seattle.general‎^[4] (Usenet):

     "Growers" are guys whose penises tend to contract a lot lengthwise when flaccid, while "show-ers" are guys whose penises could be said to merely "deflate" without contracting much in length.

   • 2003, Austin Foxxe, Three the Hard Way: Tales of Three-way Sex Between Men‎^[5]:

     His dick, if I remember correctly, is more of a shower than a grower […]

Derived terms

• vine-grower
• wine grower

Translations

a farmer who grows things

• Finnish: kasvattaja (fi)
• French: maraîcher (fr) m (produce)
• Hungarian: termesztő (hu), termelő (hu), művelő (hu), gazda (hu), ültetvényes (hu), kertész (hu), tenyésztő (hu)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: dyrker m

something that grows (in the specified way)

• Hungarian: termő (hu), növő (hu), növekvő (hu), fejlődő (hu)

someone or something who becomes more likeable over time

• Hungarian: aki/ami lassanként/​apránként/​fokozatosan lopja be magát az ember szívébe

(slang) man whose penis does not show its full size until it is erect

• Dutch: bloedlul m
• Hungarian: vérfarokkal rendelkező férfi
• Korean: 자라자지 (jarajaji)

Anagrams

• regrow