Sprout n. 1.The shoot of a plant; a shoot from the seed, from the stump, or from the root or tuber, of a plant or tree; more rarely, a shoot from the stem of a plant, or the end of a branch.
2.pl. Young coleworts; Brussels sprouts.
Brussels sprouts (Bot.) See under Brussels. Brussels n. (Geography) The capital city of Belgium. Population (2000) = 949,070 (metro). It has given its name to a kind of carpet, a kind of lace, etc. Brussels carpet, a kind of carpet made of worsted yarn fixed in a foundation web of strong linen thread. The worsted, which alone shows on the upper surface in drawn up in loops to form the pattern.
Brussels ground, a name given to the handmade ground of real Brussels lace. It is very costly because of the extreme fineness of the threads.
Brussels lace, an expensive kind of lace of several varieties, originally made in Brussels; as, Brussels point, Brussels ground, Brussels wire ground.
Brussels net, an imitation of Brussels ground, made by machinery.
Brussels point. See Point lace. Brussels sprouts (Bot.), a plant of the Cabbage family, which produces, in the axils of the upright stem, numerous small green heads, or "sprouts," each a cabbage in miniature, of one or two inches in diameter; the thousand-headed cabbage.
Brussels wire ground, a ground for lace, made of silk, with meshes partly straight and partly arched.
...
