n.
- a flowering plant's unit of reproduction, capable of developing into another such plant.
▸a quantity of these.
- the beginning of a feeling, process, or condition.
- any of a number of stronger competitors in a sports tournament who have been assigned a position in an ordered list to ensure they do not play each other in the early rounds.
- archaic a man's semen.
▸(chiefly in biblical use) offspring or descendants.
- a small crystal introduced into a liquid to act as a nucleus for crystallization.
- a small container of radioactive material placed in body tissue during radiotherapy.
v.
- sow (land) with seeds.
▸sow (seed).
- produce or drop seeds.
- remove the seeds from.
- initiate the development or growth of.
▸place a crystalline substance in (a cloud or solution) in order to cause condensation or crystallization.
- give (a competitor) the status of seed in a tournament.
Phrase
- go
(or run)
to seed
- cease flowering as the seeds develop.
- deteriorate in condition or strength.
Derivative
- seeded adj.
- seedless adj.
Etymology
OE sæd, of Gmc origin; rel. to sow1.