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.
"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
In both cases, peroxisomes expanded during the seed to seedling stage as expected.
From Science Daily • Apr. 25, 2026
Unlike a few of the seedling apples we’d tasted—some of which foragers evocatively call “spitters”—this was fruit I’d cut up to serve with thick slices of cheddar.
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 10, 2025
Still, if cooler conditions are supporting better seedling survival, those Joshua tree populations may still end up being healthier than those in places farther south, where flowering is increasing, Yoder said.
From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 15, 2024
Not only is there water, but the soil in the dambo is deep black and full of nutrients that a little tobacco seedling requires to grow strong.
From "The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind" by William Kamkwamba
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.
