seedling
Americannoun
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a plant or tree grown from a seed.
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a tree not yet 3 feet (1 meter) high.
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any young plant, especially one grown in a nursery for transplanting.
noun
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A young plant, especially one that grows from a seed rather than from a cutting.
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See Note at germination
Etymology
Origin of seedling
Vocabulary lists containing seedling
Plants (Botany) - Introduction
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Plants (Botany) - Middle School
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Plants (Botany) - High School
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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.
"It was only then that we were able to see that PEX11 is clearly involved in controlling the growth of the peroxisome during the seed to seedling stage."
From Science Daily • Apr. 25, 2026
"The peroxisome gets even larger during the seed to seedling stage, when the plant is relying on fatty acids for energy, before shrinking back down to its normal size once the plant can photosynthesize."
From Science Daily • Apr. 25, 2026
Weyerhaeuser uses AI to monitor mill equipment, optimize truck routes, and calculate seedling survival rates from drone footage.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 23, 2026
Now it’s graduation day, when native plants coaxed from seedling trays to 1-gallon pots stand ready for planting on the crossing itself this month.
From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 22, 2025
Sometimes he slid on his haunches, sometimes seedling trees held him till he was able to find sure footing.
From "The Door in the Wall" by Marguerite de Angeli
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.
