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Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
seed corn
noun
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ He says financial institutions have recognised that little companies provide a base for industry and the seed corn for new ideas.
▪ They carried on an extensive trade in a variety of products such as cattle cake, seed corn, manure and farm fertilisers.
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Seed corn

Seed \Seed\ (s[=e]d), n.; pl. Seed or Seeds. [OE. seed, sed, AS. s[=ae]d, fr. s[=a]wan to sow; akin to D. zaad seed, G. saat, Icel. s[=a][eth], s[ae][eth]i, Goth. manas[=e][thorn]s seed of men, world. See Sow to scatter seed, and cf. Colza.]

  1. (Bot.)

    1. A ripened ovule, consisting of an embryo with one or more integuments, or coverings; as, an apple seed; a currant seed. By germination it produces a new plant.

    2. Any small seedlike fruit, though it may consist of a pericarp, or even a calyx, as well as the seed proper; as, parsnip seed; thistle seed.

      And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself.
      --Gen. i. 11.

      Note: The seed proper has an outer and an inner coat, and within these the kernel or nucleus. The kernel is either the embryo alone, or the embryo inclosed in the albumen, which is the material for the nourishment of the developing embryo. The scar on a seed, left where the stem parted from it, is called the hilum, and the closed orifice of the ovule, the micropyle.

  2. (Physiol.) The generative fluid of the male; semen; sperm; -- not used in the plural.

  3. That from which anything springs; first principle; original; source; as, the seeds of virtue or vice.

  4. The principle of production.

    Praise of great acts he scatters as a seed, Which may the like in coming ages breed.
    --Waller.

  5. Progeny; offspring; children; descendants; as, the seed of Abraham; the seed of David.

    Note: In this sense the word is applied to one person, or to any number collectively, and admits of the plural form, though rarely used in the plural.

  6. Race; generation; birth.

    Of mortal seed they were not held.
    --Waller.

    Seed bag (Artesian well), a packing to prevent percolation of water down the bore hole. It consists of a bag encircling the tubing and filled with flax seed, which swells when wet and fills the space between the tubing and the sides of the hole.

    Seed bud (Bot.), the germ or rudiment of the plant in the embryo state; the ovule.

    Seed coat (Bot.), the covering of a seed.

    Seed corn, or Seed grain (Bot.), corn or grain for seed.

    To eat the seed corn, To eat the corn which should be saved for seed, so as to forestall starvation; -- a desparate measure, since it only postpones disaster. Hence: any desparate action which creates a disastrous situation in the long-term, done in order to provide temporary relief.

    Seed down (Bot.), the soft hairs on certain seeds, as cotton seed.

    Seed drill. See 6th Drill, 2 (a) .

    Seed eater (Zo["o]l.), any finch of the genera Sporophila, and Crithagra. They feed mainly on seeds.

    Seed gall (Zo["o]l.), any gall which resembles a seed, formed on the leaves of various plants, usually by some species of Phylloxera.

    Seed leaf (Bot.), a cotyledon.

    Seed lobe (Bot.), a cotyledon; a seed leaf.

    Seed oil, oil expressed from the seeds of plants.

    Seed oyster, a young oyster, especially when of a size suitable for transplantation to a new locality.

    Seed pearl, a small pearl of little value.

    Seed plat, or Seed plot, the ground on which seeds are sown, to produce plants for transplanting; a nursery.

    Seed stalk (Bot.), the stalk of an ovule or seed; a funicle.

    Seed tick (Zo["o]l.), one of several species of ticks resembling seeds in form and color.

    Seed vessel (Bot.), that part of a plant which contains the seeds; a pericarp.

    Seed weevil (Zo["o]l.), any one of numerous small weevils, especially those of the genus Apion, which live in the seeds of various plants.

    Seed wool, cotton wool not yet cleansed of its seeds.

Wiktionary
seed corn

n. Seed that is saved from one year's harvest for the subsequent year's planting, rather than being used to make flour etc.

WordNet
seed corn

n. good quality seeds (as kernels of corn) that are reserved for planting [syn: seed grain]

Usage examples of "seed corn".

So long then as the poor man hath to sell, rich men bring out none, but rather buy up that which the poor bring, under pretence of seed corn or alteration of grain, although they bring none of their own, because one wheat often sown without change of seed will soon decay and be converted into darnel.

She asked to buy seed corn from them and they promised it and fell to discussing farm problems.

Elk Garden, where the pioneers of the last four years had been wont to lay in a simple supply of seed corn and Irish potatoes.

We had no money now-not even the paper Proclamation money, worth only a fraction of sterling-and without hides to sell in the spring, we were going to have difficulty getting the seed corn and wheat we needed.

If she had her way they would plant the seed corn they had brought, hold the rest of the corn to Turn over to the ships when they arrived.

If she had her way they would plant the seed corn they had brought, hold the rest of the corn to Turn over to the ships when they arnved.

As for gunpowder, Tall Hickory, my husband, told me, when the English first give it to the general, years back, the English told him, with much secret merriment amongst themselves, how he should bury it, like seed corn, and watch the bullets come up.

He had then shaved, washed, and gone round to all the plantation owners again, returning each man's money with thanks and a small payment of interest, leaving us with enough to manage seed corn for planting, an extra mule for plowing, a goat and some pigs.