seed

noun

• 1a flowering plant’s unit of reproduction, capable of developing into another such plant.
• a quantity of these:grass seed you can grow artichokes from seed
• the cause or latent beginning of a feeling, process, or condition:the conversation sowed a tiny seed of doubt in his mind
• archaic (chiefly in biblical use) a person’s offspring or descendants.
• a man’s semen.
• (also seed crystal) a small crystal introduced into a liquid to act as a nucleus for crystallization.
• a small container for radioactive material placed in body tissue during radiotherapy.

• 2any of a number of stronger competitors in a sports tournament who have been assigned a specified position in an ordered list with the aim of ensuring that they do not play each other in the early rounds:he knocked the top seed out of the championships

verb

• 1 [with object] sow (land) with seeds:the shoreline is seeded with a special grass
• sow (a particular kind of seed) on or in the ground.
• cause (something) to begin to develop or grow:severance payouts that help seed their new businesses
• place a crystal or crystalline substance in (something) in order to cause crystallization or condensation (especially in a cloud to produce rain).

• 2 [no object] (of a plant) produce or drop seeds:mulches encourage many plants to seed freely
• (seed itself) (of a plant) reproduce itself by means of its own seeds:feverfew will seed itself readily

• 3 [with object] remove the seeds from (vegetables or fruit):stem and seed the chilies

• 4 [with object] give (a competitor) the status of seed in a tournament: [with complement]:Jeff Tarango, seeded five, was defeated by fellow American Todd Witsken