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bud 1 (bŭd)
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n.
1. Botany
a. A small protuberance on a stem or branch, sometimes enclosed in protective scales and containing an undeveloped leaf, flower, or leafy shoot.
b. The stage or condition of having buds: branches in full bud.
2. Informal
a. Flowers from a female cannabis plant, especially after being harvested and prepared for smoking or other use: bought some bud.
b. A single flower of a cannabis plant, especially a female flower: when to harvest buds.
3. Biology
a. An asexual reproductive structure, as in yeast or a hydra, that consists of an outgrowth capable of developing into a new individual.
b. A small, rounded organic part, such as a taste bud, that resembles a plant bud.
4. One that is not yet fully developed: the bud of a new idea.
5. An earbud.
v. bud·ded, bud·ding, buds
v.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.
v.tr.
1. To cause to put forth buds.
2. To graft a bud onto (a plant).

[Middle English budde.]

budder n.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
 
bud 2 (bŭd)
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n.
Informal
Friend; chum. Used as a form of familiar address, especially for a man or boy: Move along, bud.

[Short for BUDDY.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
 

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

    Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

    Indo-European Roots

    Semitic Roots

    The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.