seed (PLANT)

noun1 [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 3 cm 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).2 [C usually plural] the cause of a feeling or situation, or the early stages of it:The seeds of friendship were sown early, and they remained lifelong companions.He may be sowing the seeds of his own destruction in the long term by using violence against his own people.