Offspring Meaning
/ˈɒfspɹɪŋ/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounA person's daughter or son; a person's child.
nounAny of a person's descendants, including of further generations.
Sentence Examples
What will become of our offspring if a nuclear war breaks out?
These legends should be handed down to our offspring.
The problems parents have with their teenage offspring
CEFR Practice Quiz
The mother bird carefully feeds her ____ with small worms every morning.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The lioness fiercely protected her ____ from any predator that approached the den.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English ofspring, from Old English ofspring (“offspring, descendants, posterity”), equivalent to off- + spring. Compare Icelandic afspringur (“offspring”). More at off, spring.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"In plants, the ability to recognize self from nonself plays an important role in fertilization, because self-fertilization will result in less diverse offspring than fertilization with pollen from another individual."
— 2013 May-June, Katrina G. Claw, “Rapid Evolution in Eggs and Sperm”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 3:
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The mother bird carefully feeds her ____ with small worms every morning.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The lioness fiercely protected her ____ from any predator that approached the den.