spawn

verb

• 1 [no object] (of a fish, frog, mollusc, crustacean, etc.) release or deposit eggs:the fish spawn among fine-leaved plants
• (be spawned) (of a fish, frog, etc.) be laid as eggs: the fish can locate the precise stream in which they were spawned

• 2 [with object] often derogatory (of a person) produce (offspring):why had she married a man who could spawn a boy like that?
• produce or generate a large number of:the decade spawned a bewildering variety of books on the forces

noun

• 1the eggs of fish, frogs, etc.:the fish covers its spawn with gravel
• the process of producing spawn: lax regulations, especially during the spawn, are responsible for the declining populations

• 2chiefly derogatory the product or offspring of a person or place:the spawn of Satan

• 3the mycelium of a fungus, especially a cultivated mushroom: a supplier of spawn for shiitake mushrooms