seed1 /sēd/ noun- A multicellular structure by which flowering plants reproduce, consisting of embryo, stored food, and seed coat, derived from the fertilized ovule (botany)
- A small hard fruit or part in a fruit, a pip
- A seedlike object or aggregate
- Semen (literary or poetic)
- Spawn
- The condition of having or proceeding to form seed
- Sown land
- Grass and clover grown from seed
- A first principle
- Origin, beginning or germ
- A crystal introduced to start crystallization
- Offspring, descendants, race
- A small bubble in glass
- A tournament player who has been seeded
intransitive verb- To produce seed
- To run to seed
transitive verb- To sow
- To sprinkle, powder, dust
- To remove seeds from
- (in sports tournaments) to arrange (the draw) so that the best players do not meet in the early rounds
- To deal with (the best players) in this way
- To introduce particles of material (into something, eg a chemical solution) to induce crystallization or precipitation
- Specif, to induce rainfall, disperse a storm or freezing fog, etc, by scattering cloud with particles of an appropriate substance (also cloud-seeding)
ORIGIN: OE sǣd; cf sāwan to sow; ON sāth; Ger Saat seedˈed adjective - With the seeds removed
- Having seeds
- Bearing seed
- Full-grown
- Sown
- Showing seeds or carpels (heraldry)
- (of a tournament player) who has been seeded
seedˈer noun - A plant that produces seeds
- A seed drill
- An apparatus for removing seeds from fruit
- A seed-fish
seedˈily adverb seedˈiness noun seedˈing noun and adjective seedˈless adjective seedˈlike adjective seedˈling noun - A plant reared from the seed
- A young plant ready for planting out from a seedbed
- A seed oyster
seedˈness noun (obsolete) Sowing seedˈy adjective - Abounding with seed
- Having the flavour of seeds
- Not cleared of seeds
- Run to seed
- Worn-out
- Out of sorts
- Shabby
seed bank noun (botany) - The total viable seed content of the soil
- A collection of seeds in long-term storage, which can be germinated as required for breeding and study
seedˈbed noun - A piece of ground for receiving seed
- An environment, etc, that fosters a particular thing (esp something considered undesirable)
seedˈbox or seedˈcase noun A part of a plant in which the seeds are encased seedˈcake noun A cake flavoured with caraway seeds seed capital noun (finance) Capital provided to allow a new company to finance the costs of producing the business plan necessary to raise further capital for development seed coat noun The hard protective covering of the seeds of flowering plants, the testa seed coral noun Coral in small irregular pieces seed corn noun - Grain for sowing
- Assets likely to bring future profit
seed drill noun A machine for sowing seeds in rows seed fern noun Another name for pteridosperm seedˈ-field noun A field in which seed is sown seedˈ-fish noun A fish about to spawn seedˈ-lac noun Granular residues of lac after trituration seed leaf noun A cotyledon, a leaf contained in a seed seedˈlip noun (OE sǣdlēap from lēap, basket) a sower's basket seedˈ-lobe noun A cotyledon seed money noun Money with which a project or enterprise is set up, seed capital seedˈ-oil noun Oil expressed from seeds seed oyster noun A very young oyster seed pearl noun A very small pearl seedˈ-plant noun - A spermatophyte or flowering plant
- A plant grown from or for seed
seed plot noun A piece of nursery ground, a hotbed seed potato noun A potato tuber for planting seedsˈman noun - A dealer in seeds
- A sower
seedˈ-stalk noun The funicle seed time noun The season for sowing seeds seed vessel noun - A dry fruit
- The ovary of a flower
seedˈy-toe noun A disease of a horse's foot go or run to seed - To grow rapidly and untidily in preparation for seeding, instead of producing the vegetative growth desired by the grower
- To disappoint expectation of development
- To become exhausted
- To go to waste
- (usu go) to become unkempt, shabby
sow the seed(s) of To initiate or engender |