an ability to understand the meaning or importance of something (or the knowledge acquired as a result); "how you can do that is beyond my comprehension"; "he was famous for his comprehension of American literature"
a noticeable deterioration in performance or quality; "the team went into a slump"; "a gradual slack in output"; "a drop-off in attendance"; "a falloff in quality"
fall heavily or suddenly; decline markedly; "The real estate market fell off"
fall or sink heavily; "He slumped onto the couch"; "My spirits sank"
vegetation that has grown; "a growth of trees"; "the only growth was some salt grass"
something grown or growing; "a growth of hair"
(biology) the process of an individual organism growing organically; a purely biological unfolding of events involved in an organism changing gradually from a simple to a more complex level; "he proposed an indicator of osseous development in children"
a progression from simpler to more complex forms; "the growth of culture"
(pathology) an abnormal proliferation of tissue (as in a tumor)