do not play each other in the early parts of the compe­tition.      The top seed won comfortably.

X0 the number one seed

►                OF A MAN Wj i 5 [U] (old-fashioned or humorous) semen

6 [U] (literary) all the people who are the children, grandchildren, etc. of one man (       % X A W ) Xf'A

JBit

ITtTCl go/run to 'seed 1 (especially of a vegetable plant A Is M M) to produce flowers and seeds as well as leaves C. if] £p $T 2 to become much less attractive or good because of lack of attention        ( i&lf;

}fit ) ; ^ J$c: After his divorce, he let himself go to seed. '/HI#Is, ftk i ^    — tnore at sow1 v.

■ verb

►                OF A PLANT ft 1 [V] to produce seeds       2 [VN]

~ itself to produce other plants using its own seeds

(wx)

►                AREA OF GROUND 3 [VN] [usually passive] ~ sth (with sth) to plant seeds in an area of ground fZ ■ ■ • j# #: a newly seeded lawn ffM 7

►                IN TENNIS 4 [VN] [usually passive] to make sb a seed in a competition 5ft ( 3£A ) AffiX'&X: He has been seeded 14th at Wimbledon next week.

14

seed-bed /'siidbed/ noun 1 an area of soil which has been specially prepared for planting seeds in   A

2 [usually sing.] ~ (of/for sth) a place or situation in which sth can develop (   ) OTJJTTi;

'seed cake noun [C, U] a cake containing caraway seeds

stii; mmmw

seed-corn /'si:dko:n; NAmE -koirn/ noun [U] 1 the grain that is kept for planting the next year’s crops # 2 people or things that will be successful or useful in the future Aliy ® A (       ) ; HistfflWA

(MVa)

seed-ed /'siidid/ adj. [usually before noun] 1 (especially of a tennis player A ta f«j Is M) given a number showing that they are one of the best players in a particular competition 6ftAEA#7$5A(ft: a seeded player #7 j&X 2 (of fruit A5£) with the seeds removed AWW;       seeded tomatoes

seed-less /'siidles/ adj. [usually before noun] (of fruit J^) having no seeds        ftfJ: seedless grapes Af?

m

seed-ling /'siidlir)/ noun a young plant that has grown from a seed

'seed money (also 'seed capital) noun [u] money to start a new business, project, etc.

'seed pearl noun a small pearl XrXM CJ—

#/j   )

seeds man /'siidzman/ noun {pi. -men /-man/) a person who grows and sells seeds

seedy /'siidi/ adj. (seed-ier, seedi-est) (disapproving) dirty and unpleasant, possibly connected with immoral or illegal activities MflSftt; H^SAWfiil;    XU

: a seedy bar A A M BE 0 the seedy world of prostitution A jg[0Al$lEr/IIIIl X 0 a seedy-looking man —A ► seedi-ness noun [U]

.Seeing ‘Eye dog™ noun (NAmE) = guide dog seek On /si:k/ verb (sought, sought /sort/) (formal)

1 ~ (for) sth/sb to look for sth/sb       [VN] Drivers are

advised to seek alternative routes. imm, O [V] (BrE) They sought in vain for somewhere to shelter,   ^      2 to try to

obtain or achieve sth # A; X-; 3A [VN] to seek funding for a project        0 Highly qualified

secretary seeks employment. (= in an advertisement) ffc If M 45 A CH ( r* n- ffl in ) o 0 We are currently seeking new ways of expanding our membership, g if, $cCUE^ §r i£ @ 0 [also V] 3 [VN] ~ sth (from sb) to ask sb for sth ( ft A ) if A, XX.: I think it’s time we sought legal advice, ft *j| ffc f1MX.  M—T W 7i o

She managed to calm him down and seek help from a

neighbour, mm®

4 [V to inf] to try to do sth ist @7   HTT1 attempt:

They quickly sought to distance themselves from the protesters. C ffl & Mk.  i$C #, 5 -seeking (in

adjectives and nouns     looking for or

| 1805

trying to get the thing mentioned; the activity of doing this XX ( $L&X ) -W;       ) :

attention-seeking behaviour

ff fj o Voluntary work can provide a framework for job-seeking.   I, —see

also HEAT-SEEKING, HIDE-AND-SEEK, SELF-SEEKING iSIBl seek your 'fortune (literary) to try to find a way to become rich, especially by going to another place ft PUlft# fUTTm seek sb/sth 'out to look for and find sb/sth, especially when this means using a lot of effort     fe

seek-er /'si:ka(r)/ noun (often in compounds is]) a person who is trying to find or get the thing mentioned If ^;  an

attention/a publicity seeker ftcM'ZIA&MfftA; il>R tb & A O seekers after the truth      W A — see also

ASYLUM SEEKER, JOB SEEKER

'seek time noun [U, C] (computing if) the amount of time that a computer takes to find data itiSNiB]; seem On /si:m/ linking verb 1 ~ (to sb) (to be) sth | ~ like sth (not used in the progressive tenses  to give the impression

of being or doing sth (    MX,

HT1 appear: [V-ADJ] You seem happy.  0

Do whatever seems best to you. AMtU> fcMff

Ao O [V-N] He seems a nice man.      Ao 0 [V]

It seemed like a good idea at the time. it 0 o ‘He’ll be there, then?’ ‘So it seems (= people say so).’ “&Ai£, (mAffl)lT? ” ” oit

always seemed as though they would get married, jfejf]— o 0 [V that] It seems that they know what they’re doing.    (Ml AP it £ B & ¥ft A „ 0 [V

to inf] They seem to know what they’re doing. If ftkfll g B fETft" A o 2 [V to inf] used to make what you say about your thoughts, feelings or actions less strong (     W4MX: I seem to have

left my book at home.        Mf c 0

I can’t seem to (= I’ve tried, but I can’t) get started today.

ffiTo 3 it seems | it would seem used to suggest that sth is true when you are not certain or when you want to be polite (   ^

MX: [V (that)] It would seem that we all agree, ffcCl AMMX& ffiMo 0 [V-ADJ] It seems only reasonable to ask students to buy a dictionary.

seem-ing /'siimiq/ adj. [only before noun] (formal) appearing to be sth that may not be true # M -- (

$IM---M saa apparent: a seeming impossibility    She handled

the matter with seeming indifference. Jffe If M 'W ^ ^

seem-ing-ly /'siimirjli/ adv. 1 in a way that appears to be true but may in fact not be %fM', %&M', MM-h: a seemingly stupid question   fgM 0 a seemingly

endless journey MXXj&1£.X7ctft$t 2 according to what you have read or heard n/rift; # A ET77I

apparently : Seemingly, he borrowed the money from the bank.

seem-ly /’siimli/ adj. (old-fashioned or formal) appro­priate for a particular social situation

Pm UNSEEMLY

seen pp of see

seep /si:p/ verb [V + adv./prep.] (especially of liquids Ala to flow slowly and in small quantities through sth or into sth #;       H771 trickle: Blood was begin­

ning to seep through the bandages.

A0 o Water seeped from a crack in the pipe. tK/AIHI O (figurative) Gradually the pain

seeped away.

seep-age /'si:pid3/ noun [U, C, usually pi.] the process by which a liquid flows slowly and in small quantities through sth; the result of this process #; #jg;

Water gradually escapes by seepage through the ground. 7jCii$T/Aitfe± T o 0 oil seepages #

seer /sia(r); NAmE sir/ noun (literary) (especially in the past) a person who claims that they can see what is