seed

1 of 2

noun

ˈsēd

plural seed or seeds

Synonyms of seed next

a(1)

: the grains or ripened ovules of plants used for sowing

(2)

: the fertilized ripened ovule of a flowering plant containing an embryo and capable normally of germination to produce a new plant

broadly : a propagative plant structure (such as a spore or small dry fruit)

: a propagative animal structure:

(1)

: milt, semen

(2)

: a small egg (as of an insect)

(3)

: a developmental form of a lower animal suitable for transplanting

specifically : spat

: the condition or stage of bearing seed

in seed

: progeny

: a source of development or growth : germ

sowed the seeds of discord

: something (such as a tiny particle or a bubble in glass) that resembles a seed in shape or size

: a competitor who has been seeded in a tournament

the top seed

seed adjective

seeded

ˈsē-dəd

adjective

seedless

ˈsēd-ləs

adjective

seedlike

ˈsēd-ˌlīk

adjective

seed

2 of 2

verb

seeded; seeding; seeds

intransitive verb

: to bear or shed seed

: to sow seed : plant

transitive verb

: to plant seeds in : sow

seed a lawn with grass

: to furnish with something that causes or stimulates growth or development

: inoculate

: to supply with nuclei (as of crystallization or condensation)

especially : to treat (a cloud) with solid particles to convert water droplets into ice crystals in an attempt to produce precipitation

: to cover or permeate by or as if by scattering something

seeded [the] sea-lanes with thousands of magnetic mines—

Otto Friedrich

: plant sense 1a

: to extract the seeds from (fruit)

: to schedule (tournament players or teams) so that superior ones will not meet in early rounds

: to rank (a contestant) relative to others in a tournament on the basis of previous record

the top-seeded tennis star

Phrases

go to seed or run to seed

: to develop seed

: decay, deteriorate

Did you know?

Do you cede or seed control?

Cede means "to yield or grant typically by treaty." Most of the verb senses of seed are concerned with planting seeds (either literal, as of plants, or figuratively, as of ideas). However, the word may also be used to mean "to schedule (tournament players or teams) so that superior ones will not meet in early rounds." If you relinquish or yield something you are ceding it, and if you are organizing the participants in a tournament you are seeding them.

Example Sentences

Noun a packet of sunflower seeds He planted the seeds three inches apart. She raked the grass seed into the soil. The top seed won the tournament. Our team is the number one seed. She is ranked as the third seed. Verb We seeded the field with corn. These plants will seed late in the fall. After you wash and seed the peppers you can chop them. See More

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

But this recently discovered preserved pollen came from non-flowering gymnosperms, a group of seed-producing plants that includes conifers such as pine, fir and spruce trees. —

Will Sullivan, Smithsonian Magazine, 6 Mar. 2023 With a loss, IU would be stuck as an unremarkable seed. —

Tyler Tachman, The Indianapolis Star, 6 Mar. 2023 Jahmir Young scored 14 of his 26 points in the second half for Maryland (20-11, 11-9), which entered the afternoon looking to earn the No. 2 seed in the Big Ten Tournament. —

Travis Johnson, Baltimore Sun, 5 Mar. 2023 Now, Auburn should move off the bubble and should move up the seed line with its Quadrant 1 win over Tennessee. —

John Talty | Jtalty@al.com, al, 4 Mar. 2023 These are one our most common chaparral birds, but not frequent visitors to the seed feeder. —

Ernie Cowan, San Diego Union-Tribune, 4 Mar. 2023 The other side, for brightening, features brightening pearls, plant extracts, and murumuru seed butter to quell under-eye darkness and condition the skin. —

Kiana Murden, Vogue, 3 Mar. 2023 Money Williams, a Montana commit, had 24 points in a 76-51 quarterfinal win over 16th seed Carlmont-Belmont. —

Mitch Stephens, San Francisco Chronicle, 3 Mar. 2023 The new Uniswap wallet also includes a feature to store its seed phrase—a secret password typically composed of 12 or 16 random words—in Apple’s iCloud. —

Jeff John Roberts, Fortune Crypto, 3 Mar. 2023

Verb

The novel takes place in a world where Japan won the Second World War, emerged as a Fascist power, and brutally suppressed any rebels; the battle royale is a military program meant to seed fear in the country’s youth. —

Simon Parkin, The New Yorker, 17 Jan. 2023 Masses who went on to seed their own patches of green heaven in the blooming suburbias of post-World War II boom towns. —

Jessica Geltstaff Writer, Los Angeles Times, 18 May 2022 If SARS-CoV-2 does occasionally seed a satellite population in the bowels, that might explain why around a third of COVID-19 patients have symptoms like nausea and diarrhea. —

Katherine J. Wu, Smithsonian Magazine, 14 May 2020 Also, bacteria in these parts of the body can seed infections at other sites such as in the blood or wounds, CDC officials said. —

Mike Stobbe, Anchorage Daily News, 2 Feb. 2023 Also, bacteria in these parts of the body can seed infections at other sites such as in the blood or wounds, CDC officials said. —

Mike Stobbe, BostonGlobe.com, 2 Feb. 2023 There were over 1,000 alive in the wild, and wild-borne ferrets had the potential to seed new populations (ideal because captive-borne individuals have a harder time surviving on the prairie). —

Ula Chrobak, Popular Science, 5 Mar. 2021 State officials on Thursday said small social gatherings continue to seed new infections. —

oregonlive, 12 Nov. 2020 While this is the good news, the bad news is that iPSCs can also seed tumors in monkeys; however, the tumors grew at a far slower rate than in previous studies in mice. —

Carl Engelking, Discover Magazine, 15 May 2014 See More

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'seed.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English, from Old English sǣd; akin to Old High German sāt seed, Old English sāwan to sow — more at sow

First Known Use

Noun

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a(1)

Verb

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense 2

Time Traveler

The first known use of seed was before the 12th century

See more words from the same century

Cite this Entry

Style

“Seed.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/seed. Accessed 24 Mar. 2023.

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Kids Definition

seed

1 of 2 noun

ˈsēd

plural seed or seeds

: the grains of plants used for sowing

: a fertilized ripened ovule of a flowering plant that contains an embryo and is capable of producing a new plant

also : a plant structure (as a spore or small dry fruit) capable of producing a new plant

: semen

also : milt

: the children of one individual

the seed of David

: something from which growth takes place : germ

: a competitor who has been seeded in a tournament

the top seed

seed adjective

seeded

-əd

adjective

seedlike

-ˌlīk

adjective

seed

2 of 2 verb

: to produce or shed seeds

weeds that seed freely

: to plant seeds in : sow

seed a lawn with grass

: to treat (a cloud) with solid particles to convert water droplets into ice crystals in an attempt to produce rain

: to remove seeds from

: to rank (a player or team) in a tournament on the basis of previous record

was seeded second in the state tournament

Medical Definition

seed

1 of 3 noun

ˈsēd

plural seed or seeds

: the fertilized ripened ovule of a flowering plant containing an embryo and capable normally of germination to produce a new plant

broadly : a propagative plant structure (as a spore or small dry fruit)

: a propagative animal structure:

(1)

: milt, semen

(2)

: a small egg (as of an insect)

(3)

: a developmental form of a lower animal see seed tick

: a small usually glass and gold or platinum capsule used as a container for a radioactive substance (as radium or radon) to be applied usually interstitially in the treatment of cancer

implantation of radon seeds for bladder cancer

seed

2 of 3 intransitive verb

: to bear or shed seed

transitive verb

: to furnish with something that causes or stimulates growth or development

: inoculate

: to supply with nuclei (as of crystallization or condensation)

seed

3 of 3 adjective