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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

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

"It needs to be nipped in the bud because today's petty thief is tomorrow's bank robber," he says.

From BBC ● May 1, 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

Hilton Worldwide Holdings appeared earlier this month to have nipped a similar public-relations crisis in the bud.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 23, 2026

Mrs. Reilly signaled to the bartender, who came out of the shadow's and asked, “Now what happened to you on that bus, bud? I didn’t get the end of the story.”

From "A Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole

Grindr’s efforts to court advertisers are still being complicated by brand controversies going back to the 2023 Bud Light boycott, CEO George Arison said Tuesday at Fast Company’s Innovation Festival in New York City.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 16, 2026

That was in 1994, when Commissioner Bud Selig canceled the rest of the season in mid-September, including the World Series, after bargaining broke down.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 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

"He remembered, eh? A good cut man, Bud Martin, one of the best. How long you been training?"

From "The Contender" by Robert Lipsyte

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

Some of the rose buds had also started to rot, but she's dried them out and made a resin artwork scattered with the salvageable petals.

From BBC ● Jan. 21, 2026

Kim White, Levon’s mother, said she didn’t try sushi until she was an adult, and is amazed by her kids’ taste buds.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 2, 2026

While most plants only had one flower with many buds yet to open up, some were in full bloom with the sweet fragrant scent only the lily can provide.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 30, 2025

She could still hear Stevie Wonder’s “My Cherie Amour” coming through the buds in her mother’s hand.

From "The Parker Inheritance" by Varian Johnson

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

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

Species responded to warmer temperatures in different ways - most kept their leaf colour longer into Autumn but some budded early.

From BBC ● Mar. 27, 2023

Everything was richly green: the color of newly budded leaves, of luminescent moss, of every possible shade of pine needle.

From "Huntress" by Malinda Lo

It was the second straight highly touted pitching matchup, pitting Yamamoto against Logan Henderson, the Brewers’ 24-year-old budding star.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 13, 2026

A second-generation musician whose father Robert earned a respectable living as a violinist and teacher in the family’s native Dublin, Field shows evidence of budding talent while still a toddler.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 13, 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

A franchise that used to cycle through mostly forgettable quarterbacks and relied on suffocating defense now hopes to win a Super Bowl by betting that its budding star can outscore just about anyone.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 14, 2026

Although it is young and all she has, it is as if it had decayed on the vine at budding time.

From "Jazz" by Toni Morrison

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