plural seed or seeds
1
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)
c
: the condition or stage of bearing seed
in seed
2
: progeny
3
: a source of development or growth : germ
sowed the seeds of discord
4
: something (such as a tiny particle or a bubble in glass) that resembles a seed in shape or size
5
: a competitor who has been seeded in a tournament
the top seed
seeded; seeding; seeds
1
b
: to furnish with something that causes or stimulates growth or development
c
d
: 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
e
: to cover or permeate by or as if by scattering something
seeded [the] sea-lanes with thousands of magnetic mines—
Otto Friedrich
Otto Friedrich2
3
: to extract the seeds from (fruit)
4
a
: to schedule (tournament players or teams) so that superior ones will not meet in early rounds
b
: to rank (a contestant) relative to others in a tournament on the basis of previous record
the top-seeded tennis star
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.
Synonyms
Examples of seed in a Sentence
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.
Recent Examples on the WebBen Morse, CNN, 6 Apr. 2024
Before that, start seeds in containers indoors, in a sunny window.
—Nan Sterman, San Diego Union-Tribune, 6 Apr. 2024
Clouds of wispy seed heads top the plant in late summer and fall.
—Paul Cappiello, The Courier-Journal, 5 Apr. 2024
Even after outscoring the Knicks by seven points in clutch time on Tuesday, Miami has been outscored by 33 points in 128 clutch minutes, by far the worst of any Eastern Conference team with a top eight seed and 22nd in the league overall.
—Barry Jackson, Miami Herald, 4 Apr. 2024
Silver Lake will invest $250 million of seed equity into a new business to be founded, managed and controlled by Whitesell, according to an Endeavor SEC filing Wednesday.
—Todd Spangler, Variety, 3 Apr. 2024
In the women's tournament, No. 1 overall seed and undefeated South Carolina defeated the No. 8 seeded North Carolina Tar Heels.
—USA TODAY, 25 Mar. 2024
Cadeau, too, has only hit eight 3s and is shooting at an 18.2% clip this year — a year that saw an ACC regular-season championship and an ACC Tournament final appearance and a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
—Alex Zietlow, Charlotte Observer, 24 Mar. 2024
For Hunter, the seed for the book was planted with a high school English assignment about family history.
—Carly Tagen-Dye, Peoplemag, 24 Mar. 2024
Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times, 4 Apr. 2024
Callahan also shares Cusk’s flair for seeding strange and piquant details into the speech of her narrator’s interlocutors.
—Katy Waldman, The New Yorker, 3 Apr. 2024
The selections below were based on a combination of regular-season performance and NCAA Tournament success — all with the goal of seeding the best 16 teams over 45 years for a hypothetical Pac-10/Pac-12 single-elimination tournament.
—Jon Wilner, The Mercury News, 2 Apr. 2024
Demna has seeded the style out to the fit-your-life-in tote’s original fans.
—Alice Newbold, Vogue, 2 Apr. 2024
Plans call for relocating the lot landward by about 10 feet from its current spot, and seeding the space between the new lot and the bluff edge with native plants.
—Barbara Henry, San Diego Union-Tribune, 30 Mar. 2024
On Saturday, No. 3 seeded LSU won its Sweet 16 game against No. 2 UCLA in Albany, New York.
—Kevin Dotson, CNN, 30 Mar. 2024
Minnesota State is ranked second in the nation and seeded first.
—Walter Villa, Miami Herald, 29 Mar. 2024
Now Dragon Sauce – seeded by those same peppers – is carried by some Costco warehouses and is a top-selling Sriracha sauce on Amazon.com.
—Jessica Guynn, USA TODAY, 28 Mar. 2024
Noun
Burns has embodied the never-say-die attitude NC State has continuously displayed in this year’s tournament, beating the No. 6 and No. 2 seed as well as Duke along the way.
—Ben Morse, CNN, 6 Apr. 2024
Before that, start seeds in containers indoors, in a sunny window.
—Nan Sterman, San Diego Union-Tribune, 6 Apr. 2024
Clouds of wispy seed heads top the plant in late summer and fall.
—Paul Cappiello, The Courier-Journal, 5 Apr. 2024
Even after outscoring the Knicks by seven points in clutch time on Tuesday, Miami has been outscored by 33 points in 128 clutch minutes, by far the worst of any Eastern Conference team with a top eight seed and 22nd in the league overall.
—Barry Jackson, Miami Herald, 4 Apr. 2024
Silver Lake will invest $250 million of seed equity into a new business to be founded, managed and controlled by Whitesell, according to an Endeavor SEC filing Wednesday.
—Todd Spangler, Variety, 3 Apr. 2024
In the women's tournament, No. 1 overall seed and undefeated South Carolina defeated the No. 8 seeded North Carolina Tar Heels.
—USA TODAY, 25 Mar. 2024
Cadeau, too, has only hit eight 3s and is shooting at an 18.2% clip this year — a year that saw an ACC regular-season championship and an ACC Tournament final appearance and a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
—Alex Zietlow, Charlotte Observer, 24 Mar. 2024
For Hunter, the seed for the book was planted with a high school English assignment about family history.
—Carly Tagen-Dye, Peoplemag, 24 Mar. 2024
Verb
Blanche’s loss of innocence seeds an interesting tension as the situation comes to a head.
—Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times, 4 Apr. 2024
Callahan also shares Cusk’s flair for seeding strange and piquant details into the speech of her narrator’s interlocutors.
—Katy Waldman, The New Yorker, 3 Apr. 2024
The selections below were based on a combination of regular-season performance and NCAA Tournament success — all with the goal of seeding the best 16 teams over 45 years for a hypothetical Pac-10/Pac-12 single-elimination tournament.
—Jon Wilner, The Mercury News, 2 Apr. 2024
Demna has seeded the style out to the fit-your-life-in tote’s original fans.
—Alice Newbold, Vogue, 2 Apr. 2024
Plans call for relocating the lot landward by about 10 feet from its current spot, and seeding the space between the new lot and the bluff edge with native plants.
—Barbara Henry, San Diego Union-Tribune, 30 Mar. 2024
On Saturday, No. 3 seeded LSU won its Sweet 16 game against No. 2 UCLA in Albany, New York.
—Kevin Dotson, CNN, 30 Mar. 2024
Minnesota State is ranked second in the nation and seeded first.
—Walter Villa, Miami Herald, 29 Mar. 2024
Now Dragon Sauce – seeded by those same peppers – is carried by some Costco warehouses and is a top-selling Sriracha sauce on Amazon.com.
—Jessica Guynn, USA TODAY, 28 Mar. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'seed.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Cite this Entry
“Seed.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/seed. Accessed 18 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
seed
1 of 2 noun
plural seed or seeds
1
2
: the children of one individual
the seed of David
3
: something from which growth takes place : germ
4
: a competitor who has been seeded in a tournament
the top seed
seed
2 of 2 verb1
: to produce or shed seeds
weeds that seed freely
2
: to plant seeds in : sow
seed a lawn with grass
3
: to treat (a cloud) with solid particles to convert water droplets into ice crystals in an attempt to produce rain
4
: to remove seeds from
5
: 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
plural seed or seeds
1
a
: 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)
2
: 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
1
: to furnish with something that causes or stimulates growth or development
2
3
: to supply with nuclei (as of crystallization or condensation)
seed
3 of 3 adjective1
: selected or used to produce a new crop or stock
seed virus
2
: left or saved for breeding
a seed population
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