seed corn
Americannoun
noun
-
the good quality ears or kernels of corn that are used as seed
-
assets or investments that are expected to provide profits in the future
Etymology
Origin of seed corn
First recorded in 1585–95
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
In addition to the nod to America’s birthday, the festival marks the 100th anniversary of the first acre of commercial hybrid seed corn, grown and harvested in Altoona in 1923.
From Seattle Times • Jul. 4, 2023
Monsanto now sets the prices for most of the nation's seed corn.
From Salon • Dec. 1, 2021
The worry is that academic research — the seed corn of future breakthroughs — is being shortchanged.
From New York Times • Jun. 30, 2020
He aimed his weapon at the tide, the tracers like wishes or seed corn you scattered away from yourself and that disappeared into someplace you couldn’t see.
From The New Yorker • Jan. 14, 2019
The wheat crop was full of weeds, and it was discovered that on one of his nocturnal visits Snowball had mixed weed seeds with the seed corn.
From "Animal Farm: A Fairy Story" by George Orwell
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
