seedless

UK: /ˈsiːdləs/

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

seed /sid/   n., pl. seeds, (esp. when thought of as a group) seed, v., adj. 
n. 

1. Botany the usually small, hard part of a plant that grows into a new plant:
   [countable] The farmer planted his seeds in the spring.
2. Botany such parts thought of as a group:
   [uncountable] to purchase enough seed for the soybean crop.
3. the beginning of something:
   [countable] the seeds of discord.
4. Sport [countable] a player or team ranked in a tournament.

v. 

5. Agriculture [~ + object] to sow (a field, etc.) with seed.
6. Botany [no object] to produce seed.
7. to introduce in the hope of increase:
   [~ + object] to seed a lake with trout.
8. [~ + object] to remove the seeds from (fruit).
9. Sport to rank (players or teams) by past performance in arranging tournament pairings:
   [~ + object] was seeded first in the tournament.
10. Business [~ + object] to develop (a business), esp. by providing operating capital.

adj. [before a noun]

11. Botany producing seed;
    used for seed:
    a seed potato.

Idioms

12. Idioms go or run to seed:
    • Idioms (of the flower of a plant) to pass to the stage of providing seed.
    • Idioms to fall apart or decline, as in health or appearance:
      He had gone to seed: gaining weight, turning pale, losing hair.

seed•er, n. [countable]
seed•less, adj.: 

seedless oranges.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

seed  (sēd), n., pl. seeds, (esp. collectively) seed, v., adj. 
n. 

1. Botany the fertilized, matured ovule of a flowering plant, containing an embryo or rudimentary plant.
2. Botany any propagative part of a plant, including tubers, bulbs, etc., esp. as preserved for growing a new crop.
3. Botany such parts collectively.
4. Botany any similar small part or fruit.
5. Slang Terms [Dial.] pit².
6. the germ or propagative source of anything:
   the seeds of discord.
7. offspring;
   progeny.
8. birth:
   not of mortal seed.
9. Physiology sperm;
   semen.
10. Developmental Biology the ovum or ova of certain animals, as the lobster and the silkworm moth.
11. See seed oyster. 
12. Ceramics a small air bubble in a glass piece, caused by defective firing.
13. Crystallography a small crystal added to a solution to promote crystallization.
14. Sport [Tennis.] a player who has been seeded in a tournament.
15. go or run to seed:
    • (of the flower of a plant) to pass to the stage of yielding seed.
    • to lose vigor, power, or prosperity;
      deteriorate:
      He has gone to seed in the last few years.
16. Agriculture in seed:
    • (of certain plants) in the state of bearing ripened seeds.
    • (of a field, a lawn, etc.) sown with seed.

v.t. 

17. Agriculture to sow (a field, lawn, etc.) with seed.
18. Agriculture to sow or scatter (seed).
19. Meteorology to sow or scatter (clouds) with crystals or particles of silver iodide, solid carbon dioxide, etc., to induce precipitation.
20. to place, introduce, etc., esp. in the hope of increase or profit:
    to seed a lake with trout.
21. to sprinkle on (a surface, substance, etc.) in the manner of seed:
    to seed an icy bridge with chemicals.
22. to remove the seeds from (fruit).
23. Sport
    • to arrange (the drawings for positions in a tournament) so that ranking players or teams will not meet in the early rounds of play.
    • to distribute (ranking players or teams) in this manner.
24. Business to develop or stimulate (a business, project, etc.), esp. by providing operating capital.

v.i. 

25. Agriculture to sow seed.
26. Botany to produce or shed seed.

adj. 

27. Botany of or producing seed;
    used for seed:
    a seed potato.
28. Business being or providing capital for the initial stages of a new business or other enterprise:
    The research project began with seed donations from the investors.

• bef. 900; (noun, nominal) Middle English sede, side, seed(e), Old English sēd, sǣd; cognate with German Saat, Old Norse sāth, Gothic -seths; (verb, verbal) Middle English seden to produce seeds, derivative of the noun, nominal; akin to sow¹

seed′less, adj. 
seed′less•ness, n. 
seed′like′, adj. 
Synonyms

• 7. descendants, heirs, posterity, issue, scions.