burgeon

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The Word of the Day for March 10 is:

burgeon   \BER-jun\   verb
     1 a : to send forth new growth (as buds or branches) : 
sprout  b : bloom  
    *2 : to grow and expand rapidly : flourish

Example sentence:
     Laura's business started as a small corner diner and 
burgeoned into a successful restaurant chain.

Did you know?
     "Burgeon" comes from the Middle English word "burjonen," 
which is from Anglo-French "burjuner"; both mean "to bud or 
sprout." "Burgeon" is often used figuratively, as when P.G. 
Wodehouse used it in _Joy in the Morning_: "I weighed this. It 
sounded promising. Hope began to burgeon." Usage commentators 
have objected to the use of "burgeon" to mean "to flourish" 
or "to grow rapidly," insisting that any figurative use should 
stay true to the word's earliest literal meaning and 
distinguish budding or sprouting from subsequent growing. But 
the second sense of "burgeon," indicating growing or expanding 
and prospering (as in "the burgeoning music scene"; "the 
burgeoning international market") has been in established use 
for decades, and is, in fact, the most common use of "burgeon" 
today.

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.