[Ads-l] "grow" as noun

[Ben Zimmer]

OED doesn't have this sense of "grow" yet, but it does have "grow
operation" ("a marijuana-growing enterprise or facility") from 1986, and
"grow-op" from 1997. I'd guess bare "grow" is a further clipping of this.

Here's an antedating for "grow operation."

---
https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-bellingham-herald-grow-operation/139931628/
Bellingham (Wash.) Herald, Apr. 12, 1984, p. B1, col. 4
Three men were arrested Wednesday in Sudden Valley in connection with a
marijuana growing operation. ...  Sandell said after the deputies entered
the residence it "became real apparent there was a grow operation."
---

--bgz

On Tue, Jan 30, 2024 at 8:40 PM James Landau <
00000c13e57d49b8-dmarc-request at listserv.uga.edu> wrote:

> among other instances:
> ps://
> www.themainewire.com/2023/11/triad-weed-illegal-chinese-marijuana-grows-are-all-over-maine/
>
> Triad Weed: How Chinese Marijuana Grows Took Over Rural Maine
> Judging by the number of hits on Google News, "marijuana grows" or
> "marijuana grow" is a common term for a place that grows marijuana.
> Is this a new term, or what?  I never noticed it until I read a news story
> about the murder scene in the desert east of Los Angeles, in which the
> story several time used the phrase "marijuana grows".
>
>

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