Wordnet 3.0
NOUN (2)
1.
growth by the rapid multiplication of parts;
2.
a rapid increase in number (especially a rapid increase in the number of deadly weapons);
- Example: "the proliferation of nuclear weapons"
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Proliferation \Pro*lif`er*a"tion\, n.
[1913 Webster]
1. (Biol.) The continuous development of cells in tissue
formation; cell formation. --Virchow.
[1913 Webster]
2. (Zool.) The production of numerous zooids by budding,
especially when buds arise from other buds in succession.
[1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
proliferation
n 1: growth by the rapid multiplication of parts
2: a rapid increase in number (especially a rapid increase in
the number of deadly weapons); "the proliferation of nuclear
weapons" [ant: non-proliferation, nonproliferation]
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:
80 Moby Thesaurus words for "proliferation":
access, accession, accretion, accrual, accruement, accumulation,
addition, advance, aggrandizement, amplification, appreciation,
ascent, augmentation, ballooning, begetting, bloating, boom, boost,
breeding, broadening, buildup, burgeoning, crescendo,
crossbreeding, development, dissogeny, edema, elevation, endogamy,
engenderment, enlargement, escalation, expansion, extension, flood,
fructification, gain, generation, greatening, growth, gush, hike,
inbreeding, increase, increment, inflation, jump, leap,
linebreeding, mounting, multiple, multiplication,
multiplication table, multiplier, multiplying, outbreeding,
procreation, production, productiveness, prolification,
propagation, pullulation, raise, reproduction, rise, snowballing,
spread, surge, swelling, tables, tumescence, up, upping, upsurge,
upswing, uptrend, upturn, waxing, widening, xenogamy