Jump To:

• seed
  seed

  noun

  the fertilized, matured ovule of a flowering plant, containing an embryo or rudimentary plant.
• SEED
  SEED

  abbreviation

  Scottish Executive Education Department

seed

American  

[seed] / sid /

noun

• seeds,
  plural
• seed
  plural

1. the fertilized, matured ovule of a flowering plant, containing an embryo or rudimentary plant.

2. any propagative part of a plant, including tubers, bulbs, etc., especially as preserved for growing a new crop.

3. such parts collectively.

4. any similar small part or fruit.

5. Dialect. pit.

6. the germ or propagative source of anything.

   the seeds of discord.

7. offspring; progeny.

   Synonyms:

   issue, posterity

8. birth.

   not of mortal seed.

9. sperm; semen.

10. the ovum or ova of certain animals, as the lobster and the silkworm moth.

11. seed oyster.

12. a small air bubble in a glass piece, caused by defective firing.

13. Crystallography, Chemistry. a small crystal added to a solution to promote crystallization.

14. Tennis. a player who has been seeded in a tournament.

---

verb (used with object)

• seeds,
  present (3rd person singular)
• seeded,
  past participle,  past
• seeding
  present participle

1. to sow (a field, lawn, etc.) with seed.

2. to sow or scatter (seed).

3. to sow or scatter (clouds) with crystals or particles of silver iodide, solid carbon dioxide, etc., to induce precipitation.

4. to place, introduce, etc., especially in the hope of increase or profit.

   to seed a lake with trout.

5. to sprinkle on (a surface, substance, etc.) in the manner of seed.

   to seed an icy bridge with chemicals.

6. to remove the seeds from (fruit).

7. Sports.

   1. to arrange (the drawings for positions in a tournament) so that ranking players or teams will not meet in the early rounds of play.

   2. to distribute (ranking players or teams) in this manner.

8. to develop or stimulate (a business, project, etc.), especially by providing operating capital.

verb (used without object)

• seeds,
  present (3rd person singular)
• seeded,
  past participle,  past
• seeding
  present participle

1. to sow seed.

2. to produce or shed seed.

adjective

1. of or producing seed; used for seed.

   a seed potato.

2. being or providing capital for the initial stages of a new business or other enterprise.

   The research project began with seed donations from the investors.

idioms

1. go / run to seed,

   1. (of the flower of a plant) to pass to the stage of yielding seed.

   2. to lose vigor, power, or prosperity; deteriorate.

      He has gone to seed in the last few years.

2. in seed,

   1. (of certain plants) in the state of bearing ripened seeds.

   2. (of a field, a lawn, etc.) sown with seed.

seed ¹ British  

/ siːd /

noun

1. botany a mature fertilized plant ovule, consisting of an embryo and its food store surrounded by a protective seed coat (testa)

2. the small hard seedlike fruit of plants such as wheat

3. (loosely) any propagative part of a plant, such as a tuber, spore, or bulb

4. such parts collectively

5. the source, beginning, or germ of anything

   the seeds of revolt

6. Bible offspring or descendants

   the seed of Abraham

7. an archaic or dialect term for sperm 1 semen

8. sport a seeded player

9. the egg cell or cells of the lobster and certain other animals

10. See seed oyster

11. chem a small crystal added to a supersaturated solution or supercooled liquid to induce crystallization

12. 1. (of plants) to produce and shed seeds

    2. to lose vigour, usefulness, etc

---

verb

1. to plant (seeds, grain, etc) in (soil)

   we seeded this field with oats

2. (intr) (of plants) to form or shed seeds

3. (tr) to remove the seeds from (fruit, etc)

4. (tr) chem to add a small crystal to (a supersaturated solution or supercooled liquid) in order to cause crystallization

5. (tr) to scatter certain substances, such as silver iodide, in (clouds) in order to cause rain

6. (tr)

   1. to arrange (the draw of a tournament) so that outstanding teams or players will not meet in the early rounds

   2. to distribute (players or teams) in this manner

SEED ² British  

abbreviation

1. Scottish Executive Education Department

---

seed Scientific  

/ sēd /

1. A mature fertilized ovule of angiosperms and gymnosperms that contains an embryo and the food it will need to grow into a new plant. Seeds provide a great reproductive advantage in being able to survive for extended periods until conditions are favorable for germination and growth. The seeds of gymnosperms (such as the conifers) develop on scales of cones or similar structures, while the seeds of angiosperms are enclosed in an ovary that develops into a fruit, such as a pome or nut. The structure of seeds varies somewhat. All seeds are enclosed in a protective seed coat. In certain angiosperms the embryo is enclosed in or attached to an endosperm, a tissue that it uses as a food source either before or during germination. All angiosperm embryos also have at least one cotyledon. The first seed-bearing plants emerged at least 365 million years ago in the late Devonian Period. Many angiosperms have evolved specific fruits for dispersal of seeds by the wind, water, or animals.

2. See more at germination ovule

---

1. To plant seeds in soil.

2. To initiate rainfall or to generate additional rainfall by artificially increasing the precipitation efficiency of clouds.

3. See more at cloud seeding

seed More Idioms  

1. see run to seed.

---

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• seedlessness
  noun
• overseed
  verb
• reseed
  verb
• deseed
  verb (used with object)
• seedless
  adjective
• seedlike
  adjective
• underseeded
  adjective
• unseeded
  adjective
• unseeding
  adjective
• well-seeded
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• seed
  plural
• seeds
  plural

Participles

• seeding
  present
• seeded
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• seed
  simple
• seeds
  simple
• have seeded
  perfect
• has seeded
  perfect
• am seeding
  progressive
• are seeding
  progressive
• is seeding
  progressive
• have been seeding
  perfect progressive
• has been seeding
  perfect progressive

Past

• seeded
  simple
• had seeded
  perfect
• was seeding
  progressive
• were seeding
  progressive
• had been seeding
  perfect progressive

Future

• will seed
  simple
• will have seeded
  perfect
• will be seeding
  progressive
• will have been seeding
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of seed

before 900; (noun) Middle English sede, side, seed ( e ), Old English sēd, sǣd; cognate with German Saat, Old Norse sāth, Gothic -seths; (v.) Middle English seden to produce seeds, derivative of the noun; akin to sow 1

Explanation

A seed is basically a baby plant — it's the way plants reproduce. One tiny sunflower seed can potentially grow into a sunflower that's ten feet tall. Some seeds are just a tiny speck, others a small pod, and still others a cluster inside a fruit. As a verb, seed means "remove the seeds from," so you can seed a lemon or a pomegranate (and in the latter case, you can then eat the seeds you've seeded). You also seed when you scatter seeds in a garden. Figuratively, seed is often used to mean "provide money to start a business" or "help something grow."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

seed SEED seeds seeded seeding

Roughly the size of a small seed, the device is injected into the body and positioned close to a specific nerve.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 11, 2026

Mana Battery raised $10.15 million in seed financing to develop its anode-free sodium-ion battery technology.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026

To seed the effort, Walter invested and then moved stakes and returns into Academy Group.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 4, 2026

Novak Djokovic battled back from a set down to defeat top seed Alexander Zverev and book his place in the China Open semi-finals.

From BBC ● Oct. 4, 2026

I went all the way to the far end of the lab, to Mrs. Menzer’s side of the filing cabinet, where she’d pulled out the seed all those years ago.

From "The Science of Breakable Things" by Tae Keller

Ms. Foster’s group agreed to deliver $1 million for a new project — SEED, for Stockton Economic Empowerment Demonstration.

From New York Times ● May 30, 2018

"These studies are really going to fundamentally change the landscape," says Croen, who is a lead investigator on SEED.

From Nature ● Nov. 2, 2011

THE SEED: "The hardest part of this show is coming up with the ideas," says David.

From Time Magazine Archive

"SEED looks like a very innovative model, but it is too early to tell," says Nina Rees, a U.S.

From Time Magazine Archive

Ukraine, which is a major exporter of corn, wheat, colza, sunflower seeds and vegetable oil, submitted its EU membership bid days after Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022.

From Barron's ● Oct. 7, 2026

Equally important, the field strengths favored by the data, about five to 10 pico-Gauss today, are close to what would be needed for galaxy and cluster magnetic fields to originate from primordial seeds alone.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 4, 2026

The prince joined volunteers harvesting seeds from a field maple tree and planted a sessile oak tree - designated as the national tree of Wales.

From BBC ● Oct. 1, 2026

If this week shows anything, though, this wheeze, like all such wheezes, has finally sown the seeds of its own obsolescence.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 22, 2026

They were purple and sweet with seeds that got stuck in my teeth.

From "Flying Through Water" by Mamle Wolo

The Yankees lost 13 fewer games than the AL West champion Houston Astros and 10 fewer games than the AL Central champion Guardians, both seeded ahead of them.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 28, 2026

Sabalenka will next face either American third seed Jessica Pegula or her compatriot Emma Navarro, seeded 26th, as she bids to reach a fourth consecutive US Open final.

From BBC ● Sep. 8, 2026

This week, she arrived as the world No. 18, and seeded 17th at the tournament.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 30, 2026

There are about 1 million cases a year, according to a 2019 study, and researchers say seeded vegetables like peppers are of particular concern.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 10, 2026

The “sickness” comes in the spring, at the time the rice fields are seeded.

From "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson

He said Malaysia has been taking measures to combat the haze, including increasing attempts to trigger rain via cloud seeding.

From Barron's ● Oct. 9, 2026

But suddenly the Nations League campaign has new life and the chance of remaining in the top tier, and maybe even a seeding boost for those Euro 2028 qualifiers.

From BBC ● Oct. 2, 2026

"Not only were the galaxies producing these elements, but they were also dispersing them, possibly seeding other galaxies."

From Science Daily ● Oct. 2, 2026

For another, seeding the idea that they’re close to such breakthroughs can also have the advantageous effect of driving investment in an era where none of these companies have found a path to profitability.

From Salon ● Sep. 12, 2026

As fast as Enoch, his father and his brother worked, it still took them a month to finish seeding Mr. Tidwell's farm during that spring of 1914.

From "The Parker Inheritance" by Varian Johnson

Related Words

• berry
• corn
• egg
• grain
• nut