The mature, fertilized ovule of a pistillate plant, containing a protective shell, embryo, and supply of food – a seed will germinate and grow, given heat and moisture.
Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary
seed (noun)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 (as a spore or small dry fruit)
b) 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
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 (as a tiny particle or a bubble in glass) that resembles a seed in shape or size
5.
a competitor who has been in a tournament - seeded the top seed
intransitive verb
1.
to bear or shed seed
2.
transitive verb
to sow seed - plant
1.
a) to plant in - seeds sow seed a lawn with grass
b) to furnish with something that causes or stimulates growth or development
c) - inoculate
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
2.
- plant
3.
to extract the seeds from (as raisins)
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
Merriam-Webster Online Thesaurus
seed (noun)1.
the source from which something grows or develops
SYNONYMS:
fountainhead, germ, origin, root, seedbedRELATED WORDS:
font, fountain, spring, well, wellhead, wellspring; beginning, birth, commencement, dawn, genesis, inception, incipiency, launch, morning, onset, outset, start, threshold; creation, inauguration, origination2.
the descendants of a person, animal, or plant
SYNONYMS:
fruit, get, issue, posterity, progeny, seed, spawnRELATED WORDS:
brood, hatch, litter, young; child, scion; family, kin; lineage, stockNEAR ANTONYMS:
ancestor, antecedent, father, forebear ( forbear), forebearer, forefather, grandfather, parent, primogenitor, progenitorto put or set into the ground to grow
SYNONYMS:
drill, put in, seed, sowRELATED WORDS:
bed; replant, transplant; broadcast, scatter; pot; overseed, reseedNEAR ANTONYMS:
gather, harvest, reapkernel, pip, grain, germ, embryo