bud - Dictionary definition and pronunciation - Yahoo! Education
Reference
Dictionary
Encyclopedia
Thesaurus
World Factbook
Spanish Dictionary
Anatomy
Conversion Calculator
 
bud1  audio  (bd) KEY 

NOUN:
  1. Botany
    1. A small protuberance on a stem or branch, sometimes enclosed in protective scales and containing an undeveloped shoot, leaf, or flower.
    2. The stage or condition of having buds: branches in full bud.
  2. Biology
    1. An asexual reproductive structure, as in yeast or a hydra, that consists of an outgrowth capable of developing into a new individual.
    2. A small, rounded organic part, such as a taste bud, that resembles a plant bud.
  3. One that is not yet fully developed: the bud of a new idea.
VERB:
bud·ded, bud·ding, buds
VERB:
intr.
  1. To put forth or produce buds: a plant that buds in early spring.
  2. To develop or grow from or as if from a bud: "listened sympathetically for a moment, a bemused smile budding forth" (Washington Post).
  3. To be in an undeveloped stage or condition.
  4. To reproduce asexually by forming a bud.
VERB:
tr.
  1. To cause to put forth buds.
  2. To graft a bud onto (a plant).
ETYMOLOGY:
Middle English budde

OTHER FORMS:
budder(Noun)


 Visit our partner's site
Provided by Houghton Mifflin
logoeReference -- Download this interactive reference software to your desktop computer