Seed

Seed, sēd, n. the thing sown: the male fecundating fluid, semen, sperm, milt, spat, the substance produced by plants and animals from which new plants and animals are generated: first principle: original: descendants: children: race: red-seed: a small bubble formed in imperfectly fused glass.—v.i. to produce seed: to grow to maturity.—v.t. to sow: to plant: to graft.—ns. Seed′-bag, a bag for seeds; Seed′-bed, a piece of ground for receiving seed; Seed′-bird, the water-wagtail; Seed′-bud, the bud or germ of the seed; Seed′-cake, a sweet cake containing aromatic seeds; Seed′-coat, the exterior coat of a seed; Seed′-cod, a basket for holding seed; Seed′-cor′al, coral in small and irregular pieces; Seed′-corn, corn to be used for sowing; Seed′-crush′er, an instrument for crushing seeds to express the oil; Seed′-down, the down on cotton, &c.; Seed′-drill, a machine for sowing seed in rows; Seed′-eat′er, a granivorous bird.—adj. Seed′ed, bearing seed, full-grown: sown: (her.) having the stamens indicated.—ns. Seed′-embroi′dery, embroidery in which seeds form parts of the design; Seed′er, a seed-drill: an apparatus for removing seeds from fruit: a seed-fish; Seed′-field, a field in which seed is raised; Seed′-finch, a South American finch; Seed′-fish, roe or spawn; Seed′-fowl, a bird that feeds on grain.—adj. Seed′ful, rich in promise.—ns. Seed′-gall, a small gall; Seed′-grain, corn for seed.—adv. Seed′ily.—ns. Seed′iness, the state of being seedy: shabbiness: exhaustion; Seed′ing; Seed′ing-machine′, an agricultural machine for sowing; Seed′ing-plough, a plough fitted with a hopper from which seed is automatically deposited; Seed′-lac (see Lac, 2); Seed′-leaf, a cotyledon; Seed′-leap, a seed-basket.—adj. Seed′less, having no seeds.—ns. Seed′ling a plant reared from the seed—also adj.; Seed′-lobe, a cotyledon or seed-leaf; Seed′ness (Shak.), seedtime; Seed′-oil, oil expressed from seeds.—ns.pl. Seed′-oy′sters, very young oysters; Seed′-pearls, very small or imperfect pearls strung together on horse-hair and attached to mother-of-pearl, &c., for ornament—used also in the composition of electuaries, &c.—ns. Seed′-plant′er, a seeder for planting seed on hills; Seed′-plot, a piece of nursery-ground, a hot-bed; Seed′-sheet, the sheet containing the seed of the sower; Seeds′man, one who deals in seeds: a sower:—pl. Seeds′men; Seed′-sow′er, a broadcast seeding-machine; Seed′-stalk, the funiculus; Seed′-tick, a young tick; Seed′time, the time or season for sowing seed; Seed′-vess′el, the pericarp which contains the seeds; Seed′-weev′il, a small weevil which infests seeds; Seed′-wool, cotton-wool from which the seeds have not been removed.—adj. Seed′y, abounding with seed: run to seed: having the flavour of seeds: worn out: out of sorts, looking or feeling unwell: shabby.—n. Seed′y-toe, a diseased condition of a horse's foot. [A.S. sǽd—sáwan, to sow; Ice. sádh, Ger. saat.]