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English (UK)
Cambridge Dictionary Online

Meaning of seed in English

seed
noun
uk
/siːd/ us
/siːd/

seed noun (PLANT)

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B2 [ C or U ]
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).
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[ U ] literary
→  semen
go/run to seed
If a food plant goes or runs to seed, it produces flowers and seeds because it has not been picked early enough:
In hot weather lettuces can suddenly run to seed.
If people or places go or run to seed, their physical appearance becomes worse because no one is taking care of them:
After he retired, he really went to seed.
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Fruits & seeds & their parts
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seed noun (BEGINNING)

C2 [ C usually plural ]
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.
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Origins and sources
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seed noun (SPORT)

[ C ]
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.
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Tennis & racket sports
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seed
verb
uk
/siːd/ us
/siːd/

seed verb (PLANT)

[ I or T ]
to produce seeds:
The plants have seeded themselves (= their seeds have fallen) into the cracks between the paving stones.
[ T ]
(also deseed)
to remove the seeds from a fruit or vegetable:
Wash, seed, and cut the pepper into small pieces.
[ T ]
to sow (= plant) seeds somewhere:
Winter wheat can be seeded into open plots.
Spring is a great time to seed the bare patches in your lawn.
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Farming - general words
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seed verb (CAUSE)

[ T usually + adv/prep ]
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.
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Causing things to happen
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seed verb (SPORT)

[ T usually passive ]
to make a player a seed:
[ + adj ] Jones, seeded second, has won her last ten matches.
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Tennis & racket sports
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seed verb (CLOUD)

[ T ]   environment   specialized
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.
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Precipitation: rain
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(Definition of seed from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

seed | American Dictionary

seed
noun
us
/sid/

seed noun (PLANT)

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[ C/U ]   biology
a small, usually hard part of a plant from which a new plant can grow

seed noun (BEGINNING)

[ C usually pl ]
the beginning or cause of something:
A good defense lawyer knows how to plant these little seeds of doubt in the minds of jurors.

seed noun (SPORTS)

[ C ]
any of the players or teams ranked among the best in a particular competition
seed
verb [ T ]
us
/sid/

seed verb [T] (PLANT)

to plant seeds in the ground:
We seeded the lawn with a different grass this year.
(Definition of seed from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

seed | Business English

seed
noun [ U ]
  FINANCE
uk
/siːd/ us
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(UK also seedcorn)
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.
seed
verb [ T ]
  FINANCE
uk
/siːd/ us
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.
(Definition of seed from the Cambridge Business English Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

Examples of seed

seed
The screening system permitted a population approach for quantification of changes in seed population thermal behaviour in relation to dormancy loss.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
It was this early experience as a rice breeder which also led to an interest in seed dormancy.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
A number of protective mechanisms associated with seed desiccation tolerance have been identified through studies on acquisition and loss of desiccation tolerance in orthodox seeds.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
Additionally, in desiccation-sensitive seeds, protective antioxidant systems may also fail.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
Therefore, the difference in the dehydration and rehydration paths was much higher in control seeds compared to primed seeds.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
Figure 2 summarizes seed selectivities ranked by mass for each granivore class separately.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
There is also a list of over 40 institutes and individuals working on jackfruit, and 25 pages of recipes using the fruit or seeds.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
In four instances, the testa was removed from one end of the seed and the fleshy cotyledons eaten from the centre.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
On the other hand, seeds survived longer at lower than at higher temperatures.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
None of the seeds cached in this study survived to germination.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
Granivores were even able to locate seeds from which dung beetles had removed the surrounding faeces.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
Responses to fluctuating temperatures are consistent among seeds of many species, but the physiological mechanisms underlying such responses are still unknown.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
The lower degree of depth-mediated inhibition in no-till may increase the percentage of active seed bank, thereby reducing the amount of older seeds.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
This suggests that seed predators tended to be more host-specific in 1998 than in 1996.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
Inevitably, such management tended to reduce seed production.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
See all examples of seed
These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.

Collocations with seed

seed

These are words often used in combination with seed.

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caraway seed
Caraway seed is closely related to cumin, but has a milder flavour.
From
Wikipedia
This example is from Wikipedia and may be reused under a CC BY-SA license.
certified seed
We are the principal source of supply of certified seed potatoes.
From the
Hansard archive
Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0
coriander seed
Ground coriander seed loses flavour quickly in storage and is best ground fresh.
From
Wikipedia
This example is from Wikipedia and may be reused under a CC BY-SA license.
These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.
See all collocations with seed
What is the pronunciation of seed?
 

Translations of seed

in Chinese (Traditional)
植物, 種子, 精液…
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in Chinese (Simplified)
植物, 种子, 精液…
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in Spanish
semilla, cabeza de serie, quitar las semillas a…
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in Portuguese
semente, semente [feminine]…
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in Italian
बीज, धान्य उगवण्यासाठी पेरेले जाणारे बी…
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種, 種子, 種（たね）…
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tohum, çekirdek, tohum ekmek…
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graine [feminine], germe [masculine], graine…
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llavor…
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zaad, kiem, geplaatst…
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ஒரு தாவரத்தால் உற்பத்தி செய்யப்படும் ஒரு சிறிய, சுற்று அல்லது ஓவல் வடிவ பொருள் மற்றும் அதிலிருந்து, அது நடப்படும் போது…
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बीज, एक भावना या परिस्थिति का कारण या प्रारंभिक चरण…
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બીજ…
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frø, -frø, spire…
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frö, seedad spelare, gå i frö…
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biji, bibit, meletakkan seseorang sebagai pemain pilihan…
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der Samen, der Keim, gesetzt…
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frø [neuter], kime [masculine], spire [masculine]…
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بیج, تخم, ابتدائی…
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сім'я, насіння, початок…
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семечко, сеять…
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గింజ, విత్తనం, భావన లేదా పరిస్థితికి కారణం లేదా దాని ప్రారంభ దశలు…
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بِذْرة…
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বীজ, একেবারে প্রথম বা অঙ্কুর পর্যায়, একটি অনুভূতি বা পরিস্থিতির কারণ বা এটির প্রাথমিক পর্যায়…
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semeno, zárodek, nasazený hráč…
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biji, benih, pilihan…
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เมล็ด, จุดเริ่ม, ผู้แข่งขันที่คัดเลือกไว้โดยหวังว่าจะเข้ารอบสุดท้าย…
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hạt giống, mầm mống, nguồn gốc…
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nasienie, ziarno, siać…
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씨앗…
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seme, (testa di serie), produrre seme…
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see you soon idiom
see your way (clear) to doing something idiom
see/catch you later! idiom
see/think fit phrase
seed
seed bank
seed cake
seed coat
seed corn

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