seed

/sid/

/sid/

Other forms: seeds; seeded; seeding

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."

Definitions of seed

1. noun

   a mature fertilized plant ovule consisting of an embryo and its food source and having a protective coat or testa
   type of:

   ovule

   a small body that contains the female germ cell of a plant; develops into a seed after fertilization
2. noun

   a small hard fruit
   types:

   edible seed

   many are used as seasoning

   coffee, coffee bean, coffee berry

   a seed of the coffee tree; ground to make coffee

   pip

   a small hard seed found in some fruits

   bonduc nut, nicker nut, nicker seed

   hard shiny grey seed of a bonduc tree; used for making e.g. jewelry

   Job's tears

   hard pearly seeds of an Asiatic grass; often used as beads

   oil-rich seed, oilseed

   any of several seeds that yield oil

   safflower seed

   seed of the safflower

   caryopsis, grain

   dry seed-like fruit produced by the cereal grasses: e.g. wheat, barley, Indian corn

   ash-key

   winged seed of the ash tree

   coquilla nut

   nut having a hard hazel-brown shell used like vegetable ivory

   babassu nut

   hard-shelled nut of the babassu palm

   cohune nut

   nut of the cohune palm having hard white shells like those of ivory nuts

   apple nut, ivory nut, vegetable ivory

   nutlike seed of a South American palm; the hard white shell takes a high polish and is used for e.g. buttons

   neem seed

   seed of neem trees; source of pesticides and fertilizer and medicinal products

   buckeye, conker, horse chestnut

   the inedible nutlike seed of the horse chestnut

   Mexican jumping bean, jumping bean, jumping seed

   seed of Mexican shrubs of the genus Sebastiana containing the larva of a moth whose movements cause the bean to jerk or tumble

   bean

   any of various seeds or fruits that are beans or resemble beans

   nut

   usually large hard-shelled seed

   edible nut

   a hard-shelled seed consisting of an edible kernel or meat enclosed in a woody or leathery shell

   pumpkin seed

   the edible seed of a pumpkin

   areca nut, betel nut

   seed of betel palm; chewed with leaves of the betel pepper and lime as a digestive stimulant and narcotic in southeastern Asia

   water chinquapin

   edible nutlike seeds of an American lotus having the flavor of a chinquapin

   dika nut

   edible oil-rich seed of wild mango

   sunflower seed

   edible seed of sunflowers; used as food and poultry feed and as a source of oil

   cumin, cumin seed

   aromatic seeds of the cumin herb of the carrot family

   cedar nut, cembra nut

   the seed of the Swiss pine

   castor bean

   the toxic seed of the castor-oil plant; source of castor oil

   cottonseed

   seed of cotton plants; source of cottonseed oil

   candlenut

   seed of candlenut tree; source of soil used in varnishes

   coumara nut, tonka bean

   fragrant black nutlike seeds of the tonka bean tree; used in perfumes and medicines and as a substitute for vanilla

   algarobilla, algarroba, algarrobilla

   mesquite pod used in tanning and dyeing

   amaranth

   seed of amaranth plants used as a native cereal in Central and South America

   rapeseed

   seed of rape plants; source of an edible oil

   barleycorn

   a grain of barley

   wheat berry

   a grain of wheat

   kernel

   a single whole grain of a cereal

   rye

   the seed of the cereal grass

   cola nut, kola nut

   bitter brown seed containing caffein; source of cola extract

   mast

   nuts of forest trees (as beechnuts and acorns) accumulated on the ground

   calabar bean, ordeal bean

   dark brown highly poisonous seed of the calabar-bean vine; source of physostigmine and used in native witchcraft

   divi-divi

   twisted seed pods of the divi-divi tree; source of tannin

   algarroba, algarroba bean, carob, carob bean, locust bean, locust pod

   long pod containing small beans and sweetish edible pulp; used as animal feed and source of a chocolate substitute

   soy, soya bean, soybean

   a source of oil; used for forage and soil improvement and as food

   broad bean, fava bean, horsebean

   seed of the broad-bean plant

   palm kernel, palm nut

   seed of any oil palm

   nutlet

   a small nut

   flaxseed, linseed

   the seed of flax used as a source of oil

   type of:

   fruit

   the ripened reproductive body of a seed plant
3. verb

   remove the seeds from
   “seed grapes”

   type of:

   remove, take, take away, withdraw

   remove something concrete, as by lifting, pushing, or taking off, or remove something abstract
4. verb

   bear seeds
   type of:

   bear, turn out

   bring forth, "The apple tree bore delicious apples this year"
5. verb

   go to seed; shed seeds
   “The dandelions went to seed”

   types:

   reseed

   seed again or anew

   type of:

   disgorge, shed, spill

   cause or allow (a solid substance) to flow or run out or over
6. verb

   place (seeds) in or on the ground for future growth
   “She sowed sunflower seeds”

   synonyms: sow

   inseminate, sow, sow in

   place seeds in or on (the ground)

   types:

   broadcast

   sow over a wide area, especially by hand

   inseminate, sow, sow in

   place seeds in or on (the ground)

   scatter

   sow by scattering

   type of:

   lay, place, pose, position, put, set

   put into a certain place or abstract location
7. noun

   the thick white fluid containing spermatozoa that is ejaculated by the male genital tract
   types:

   milt

   seminal fluid produced by male fish

   type of:

   bodily fluid, body fluid, humor, humour, liquid body substance

   the liquid parts of the body
8. noun

   one of the outstanding players in a tournament
   synonyms: seeded player

   type of:

   participant, player

   a person who participates in or is skilled at some game
9. verb

   distribute (players or teams) so that outstanding teams or players will not meet in the early rounds
   type of:

   grade, order, place, range, rank, rate

   assign a rank or rating to
10. noun

    anything that provides inspiration for later work
    synonyms: germ, source

    types:

    taproot

    something that provides an important central source for growth or development

    muse

    the source of an artist's inspiration

    type of:

    inspiration

    arousal of the mind to special unusual activity or creativity
11. verb

    help (an enterprise) in its early stages of development by providing seed money
    type of:

    finance

    obtain or provide money for
12. verb

    sprinkle with silver iodide particles to disperse and cause rain
    “seed clouds”

    type of:

    process, treat

    subject to a process or treatment, with the aim of readying for some purpose, improving, or remedying a condition
13. verb

    inoculate with microorganisms
    type of:

    inoculate

    introduce a microorganism into