Webster's English Dictionary

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bud

1. bud \'b*d\ n [ME budde; akin to OE budda beetle, Skt bhu-ri abundant m 
   more at BIG 1: a small lateral or terminal protuberance on the stem of a 
   plant that is  an undeveloped shoot 2: something not yet mature or at full 
   development : as  2a: an incompletely opened flower  2b: YOUTH  2c: an 
   outgrowth of an organism that differentiates into a new individual :: 
   GEMMA; also : PRIMORDIUM
2. bud vb or bud.ded;  or bud.ding of a plant  1a: to set buds  1b: to 
   commence growth from buds  2: to be or develop like a bud  3: to reproduce 
   asexually esp. by the pinching off of a small part of the  parent 1: to 
   produce or develop from or as if from buds  2: to cause (as a plant) to bud 
    3: to insert a bud from a plant of one kind into an opening in the bark of 
    (a plant of another kind) usu. in order to propagate a desired variety - 
   bud.der n