Definition of "throve"

The melons, pumpkins, and cucumbers throve well on a sandy patch in Doctor's Gully, which was the first site chosen for an experimental garden.

1887, Harriet W. Daly, Digging, Squatting, and Pioneering Life in the Northern Territory of South Australia, page 122

But having now done with theſe Excreſcencies of Spain, from whence they pretend to have originally ſprung, let us ſee how thoſe which they lay claim to for their Anceſtors, have throve in their aversion to Induſtry.

1706, A Collection of State Tracts, Publiſh'd during the Reign of King William III‎, volume 2, page 134

I have found my Po-poplars, even in this dry year, to have throve the better for a pretty free trimming.

1802, The Gentleman's Magazine‎, volume 71, page 426

Areca-nuts and betel-vines in inconsiderable quantities seem to have throve.

2001, Hamlet Bareh, The Economy of Meghalaya: Tradition to Transition‎, Spectrum Publications, page 90