seeded

1. 1
   verb

   Simple past and past participle of seed.

   She seeded the new flower bed with a mix of wildflowers.

   The clouds were seeded in an attempt to bring rain to the drought-stricken region.

   Note

   Seed is a regular verb, so its one -ed form does double duty. It is the past tense in she seeded the bed, and the participle in the bed has been seeded and the clouds were seeded. The participle also settles into adjectives such as the farmer's "sown". The verb itself reaches well beyond the garden: it can mean providing a venture's initial resources or leaving files available for others to download.

2. 2
   adjective

   Ranked and positioned in a tournament draw according to ability, so top competitors avoid meeting in early rounds.

   The seeded competitor received a bye in the opening round.

   A seeded entrant rarely faces another favorite before the quarterfinals.

   Similarranked

   Oppositeunseeded, unranked

   Note

   A sports term that comes straight from the verb: organizers allocate seedings, and the competitors they place are seeded. Before a noun it reads as a plain adjective (a seeded player). After be it shades into the passive of the verb (she was seeded by the organizers). Because the draw is arranged around them, seeded competitors are the ones the bracket expects to meet late.

3. 3
   adjective

   Bearing seeds; carrying or holding the seeds that a plant produces.

   Finches gathered on the seeded grass stalks to feed.

   The seeded poppy pods rattled softly when the wind shook them.

   Similarseed-bearing

   Oppositeseedless

4. 4
   adjective

   Sown with seed; planted by scattering or setting seed into the ground.

   The seeded field showed rows of tiny green shoots within days.

   Workers fenced off the newly seeded slopes to prevent erosion.

   Oppositeunsown, fallow

5. 5
   adjective

   Depicted with the seeds or stamens shown, often in a different color, as a flower on a coat of arms.

   The arms featured a red rose seeded and barbed in green.

   A seeded lily appeared in each corner of the banner.

   Note

   Heraldic blazon uses this word of the rose, and it almost always travels with barbed, which covers the small leaves between the petals. Charles MacKinnon of Dunakin's The Observer's Book of Heraldry (1968) gives the stock phrase a rose Gules barbed and seeded proper. That means red petals, green barbs and yellow seeds, since proper calls for natural colors.

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