Meaning of seed In English

• 0 a small, round or oval object produced by a plant and from which, when it is planted, a new plant can grow:

  • Sow the seeds (= put them in the ground) about three centimetres deep.

  • The chemical will stop all seeds from sprouting (= starting to grow).

  • The farmers grow these crops for seed (= for planting to grow more crops, rather than for eating).

  • In hot weather lettuces can suddenly run to seed.

  • After he retired, he really went to seed.

• 1 the cause of a feeling or situation, or the early stages of it:

  • From these early seeds of their friendship, they grew into lifelong companions.

  • He may be sowing the seeds of his own destruction in the long term by using violence against his own people.

• 2 especially in tennis, a good player who is given a place on the list of those expected to win games in a particular competition because of the way they have played in the past:

  • Turner's opponent in the quarter-finals is the number one seed.

• 3 to produce seeds:

  • The plants have seeded themselves (= their seeds have fallen) into the cracks between the paving stones.

  • Wash, seed, and cut the pepper into small pieces.

  • Winter wheat can be seeded into open plots.

  • Spring is a great time to seed the bare patches in your lawn.

• 4 to cause something to exist and develop:

  • This was the article that seeded his book.

  • The main strategy was getting others to buy into a vision, seeding ideas at different levels in the organization.

• 5 to make a player a seed:

  • [ + adj ] Jones, seeded second, has won her last ten matches.

• 6 to spread substances such as certain chemicals in clouds, in order to try to make them produce rain, or more rain:

  • Scientists have experimented with cloud control, including seeding clouds to promote the shedding of rain.

  • He seeds clouds in west Texas.

• 7 a small, usually hard part of a plant from which a new plant can grow

• 8 the beginning or cause of something:

  • A good defense lawyer knows how to plant these little seeds of doubt in the minds of jurors.

• 9 any of the players or teams ranked among the best in a particular competition

• 10 to plant seeds in the ground:

  • We seeded the lawn with a different grass this year.

• 11 money used to start a new company, business, activity, etc. as an investment:

  • seed capital/funding/money The conference is aimed at entrepreneurs looking for seed capital for new business ventures.

• 12 to provide money to start a new company, business, etc. as an investment:

  • The venture capital fund of $250 million will seed Chinese high-tech and biotechnology startup ventures.