evergrowingadj.
/ˌɛvəˈɡrəʊɪŋ/, U.S. /ˌɛvərˈɡroʊɪŋ/ 1. That grows continually; constantly increasing.
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1579 Kingsmill's Pithie Epist. in T. Pritchard Schoole Honest & Vertuous Lyfe 51 The neuer vading and euer growyng grayne of good will.
1611 R. Chester Ann. Great Brit. 142 Thine euer growing beautie, like the Rose.
1775 E. Burke Speech Resol. for Concil. Colonies 59 The immense, evergrowing, eternal Debt..due to generous Government.
1848 J. S. Mill Princ. Polit. Econ. II. iii. xxiv. §5.215 The ever growing attributions of the government.
1957 P. Worsley Trumpet shall Sound ii. 39 These new wants attracted an ever-growing army of recruits.
2006 F. Chalk It's your Time you're Wasting (2009) 41 One of the ever-growing number of ‘learning difficulties’.
2. Botany. Continually producing new growth throughout the year. Cf. evergreen adj. 1a.
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the world > plants > by age or cycles > [adjective] > evergreen or ever-blooming
evergreen1593
everbearing1597
everblooming1600
still-green1603
perennialc1660
sempervirent1668
evergrowing1843
sempervirid1909
1843 Florist's Jrnl. Feb. 26 If they have moisture enough to sustain them at all times, they have a tendency to become evergreen, or rather evergrowing.
1882 Florist & Pomologist Apr. 49/2 Tea Roses are naturally evergrowing as well as evergreen.
1948 Evening Democrat (Fort Madison, Iowa) 30 Apr. 5 (advt.) A beautiful bouquet of flowers..an evergrowing plant..a magnificent corsage.
1997 P. Hawkes tr. I. Yamada Trop. Rain Forests Southeast Asia ii. 217 For pioneer vegetation the evergrowing habit appears to be favorable.
2004 Amer. Jrnl. Bot. 91 1374/2 Evergrowing species produce leaves continuously but keep a relatively constant leaf number through the year.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2018; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.1579