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• Bud
  Bud

  noun

  a male given name.

bud

¹ American  

[buhd] / bʌd /

noun

1. Botany.

   1. a small axillary or terminal protuberance on a plant, containing rudimentary foliage leaf bud, the rudimentary inflorescence flower bud, or both mixed bud.

   2. an undeveloped or rudimentary stem or branch of a plant.

2. Zoology. (in certain animals of low organization) a prominence that develops into a new individual, sometimes permanently attached to the parent and sometimes becoming detached; gemmule.

3. Mycology. a small, rounded outgrowth produced from a fungus spore or cell by a process of asexual reproduction, eventually separating from the parent cell as a new individual: commonly produced by most yeast and a few other fungi.

4. Anatomy. any small rounded part.

5. an immature or undeveloped person or thing.

6. Slang. marijuana, especially potent marijuana from the buds, or flowering tops, of the hemp plant.

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verb (used without object)

• buds,
  present (3rd person singular)
• budded,
  past participle,  past
• budding
  present participle

1. to put forth or produce buds.

2. to begin to develop.

3. to be in an early stage of development.

verb (used with object)

• buds,
  present (3rd person singular)
• budded,
  past participle,  past
• budding
  present participle

1. to cause to bud.

2. Horticulture. to graft by inserting a single bud into the stock.

idioms

1. in the bud, in an immature or undeveloped state: Also in bud.

   a Shakespeare in the bud.

2. nip in the bud, to stop (something) in the beginning of its development.

   The rebellion was nipped in the bud.

bud ² American  

[buhd] / bʌd /

noun

1. brother; buddy (used in informal address, as to one's brother or to a man or boy whose name is not known to the speaker).

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Bud ³ American  

[buhd] / bʌd /

Or Budd

noun

1. a male given name.

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bud ¹ British  

/ bʌd /

noun

1. informal short for buddy

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bud ² British  

/ bʌd /

noun

1. a swelling on a plant stem consisting of overlapping immature leaves or petals

2. 1. a partially opened flower

   2. ( in combination )

      rosebud

3. any small budlike outgrowth

   taste buds

4. something small or immature

5. an asexually produced outgrowth in simple organisms, such as yeasts, and the hydra that develops into a new individual

6. a slang word for marijuana

7. at the stage of producing buds

8. to put an end to (an idea, movement, etc) in its initial stages

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verb

1. (intr) (of plants and some animals) to produce buds

2. (intr) to begin to develop or grow

3. (tr) horticulture to graft (a bud) from one plant onto another, usually by insertion under the bark

bud Scientific  

/ bŭd /

1. A small swelling on a branch or stem, containing an undeveloped shoot, leaf, or flower. Some species have mixed buds containing two of these structures, or even all three.

2. ◆ Terminal buds occur at the end of a stem, twig, or branch.

3. ◆ Axillary buds, also known as lateral buds, occur in the axils of leaves (in the upper angle of where the leaf grows from the stem).

4. ◆ Accessory buds often occur clustered around terminal buds or above and on either side of axillary buds. Accessory buds are usually smaller than terminal and axillary buds.

5. A small rounded outgrowth on an asexually reproducing organism, such as a yeast or hydra, that is capable of developing into a new individual.

6. See more at budding

7. A tiny part or structure, such as a taste bud, that is shaped like a plant bud.

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1. To form or produce a bud or buds.

bud More Idioms  

1. see nip in the bud.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• budder
  noun
• budless
  adjective
• budlike
  adjective
• nonbudding
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• budding
  present
• budded
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• bud
  simple
• buds
  simple
• have budded
  perfect
• has budded
  perfect
• am budding
  progressive
• are budding
  progressive
• is budding
  progressive
• have been budding
  perfect progressive
• has been budding
  perfect progressive

Past

• budded
  simple
• had budded
  perfect
• was budding
  progressive
• were budding
  progressive
• had been budding
  perfect progressive

Future

• will bud
  simple
• will have budded
  perfect
• will be budding
  progressive
• will have been budding
  perfect progressive

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Etymology

Origin of bud¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English budde, bodde “bud, spray, pod”; further origin uncertain; perhaps from Middle Dutch botte “bud,” or Old French bout “tip, end”

Origin of bud²

An Americanism dating back to 1850–55; back formation from buddy

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Explanation

The young part of a plant that's almost ready to flower or unfurl new leaves is called the bud. As a verb, bud also means to grow or develop. You will see the word bud most often in reference to plants, but it is also used metaphorically to refer to something that is still maturing: a "budding career," for instance, or a "budding romance." Scientists use bud to indicate a new formation of growth or something that splits apart to form a duplicate of itself, like a cell.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

bud Bud buds budded budding

When they examined taste bud tissue under a microscope, they found that some participants had changes in the physical arrangement of their taste cells.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 19, 2026

From there it opens up, like a flower bud warming to summer, with acoustic guitar strumming, a gentle rhythm section and a gospel choir echoing with otherworldly lightness.

From Salon ● Aug. 29, 2026

With each instructive and poetic chapter, she shows us how time used to be measured by birdsong and flower bud, the color of twilight and the wide wheel of stars.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 17, 2026

So the money bouquet culture is unlikely to be nipped in the bud any time soon.

From BBC ● Feb. 13, 2026

I felt the little bud of our friendship beginning to bloom, and I smiled to myself.

From "From Twinkle, with Love" by Sandhya Menon

"This is a once-in-a-lifetime event," said Bud Denker, Freedom 250 chairman and president of IndyCar owner Penske Corporation.

From Barron's ● Aug. 22, 2026

He can’t channel a direct personal relationship with the composer, as did Bud Powell and Barry Harris.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2026

He starred in Under Armour ads and a Super Bowl campaign for Bud Light.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026

Earlier that day, however, witnesses testified that Powers had argued with a mutual acquaintance of Byrd and Roberts named Bud.

From Slate ● Aug. 11, 2026

Bud Searcy sure hoped that we wouldn’t have an outbreak of hydrophobia in Salt Licks and all die before the men got back from Kansas.

From "Old Yeller" by Fred Gipson

He notes that the system is good at picking out very tiny flower buds, which are hard to see at a glance with the naked eye.

From BBC ● Sep. 30, 2026

When they hatch, the leaves they depend on are still sealed inside buds, leaving them with nothing to eat.

From Science Daily ● May 5, 2026

Now a must-have iPhone accessory, the development of the first generation was infamous inside Apple for infighting among Ternus’s peers as they argued over how to keep the wireless ear buds connected via Bluetooth.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 21, 2026

Regardless of that, between this and the extended hail-fellow-well-met tight-twos by his buds, the lead-up took on the feeling of a wake or a “get well” rally for someone who recently emerged from a coma.

From Salon ● Mar. 5, 2023

When they opened their mouths to neigh, Aru saw that their teeth were tightly furled white buds.

From "Aru Shah and the End of Time" by Roshani Chokshi

Researchers also observed the archaeon producing chains of budded vesicles along with elaborate tube-like structures.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 3, 2026

“If your hemagglutinin is too sticky and your neuraminidase is too poor, you get stuck to the cell that you’ve just budded from,” Peacock says.

From Science Magazine ● Dec. 5, 2024

There are also “nine or so grafts and budded plants” Chris Trimmer who runs the site explains.

From BBC ● Sep. 26, 2024

This year, skip budded or blooming plants; give the gardener on your list a chubby bulb, and let them cultivate those impressive stalks crowned with showy trumpet blossoms.

From Seattle Times ● Nov. 25, 2023

Closing Sohrab’s door, I wondered if that was how forgiveness budded, not with the fanfare of epiphany, but with pain gathering its things, packing up, and slipping away unannounced in the mid­dle of the night.

From "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini

Fans had no social media to analyze the budding teen romance between Topanga Lawrence and Cory Matthews while the sitcom aired on ABC.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 28, 2026

Hammami studied in Australia, a period Israel and the U.A.E. are scrutinizing for signs of budding radicalism, some of the people familiar with the matter said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 5, 2026

Going on hiatus to serve in the military is often a threat for budding careers in South Korea's fast-moving entertainment industry.

From BBC ● Oct. 1, 2026

The Clippers were so desperate for a star to pick them, they didn’t pick up on the fact that they already had a budding superstar in their midst.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 14, 2026

As May neared, I found myself hosting more scraps of fabric than budding leaves.

From "Wishtree" by Katherine Applegate

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