Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A bed of soil cultivated for planting seeds.
  • noun An area or source of growth or gradual manifestation.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Ground prepared for the planting of seeds.
  • noun figuratively A place conducive to fulfillment.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a bed where seedlings are grown before transplanting

Etymologies

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Examples

  • Director Josie O'Rourke's day job is artistic director of London's Bush Theatre, which sees itself as a "seedbed," a bit like the Unity.

    'Men Should Weep' marvels Paul Levy 2010

  • Witte offers the essential scholarly caveats—Calvinism was not the only source of ideas of political freedom; when Calvinists were in power they did not always extend the benefits of freedom to others—but fundamentally, he presents the claim that Reformed Protestantism was the "seedbed" of American constitutionalism: "American religious, ecclesiastical, associational, and political liberty were grounded in fundamental Puritan ideas of conscience, confession, community, and commonwealth."

    New reviews: books on the history of state secrets, Calvinism at the American founding, Lincoln & Darwin Mary L. Dudziak 2009

  • In his exhaustive examination of human history, Giovanni Battista Vico (1668-1744), Professor of Rhetoric at the University of Naples, concluded that marriage between a man and a woman is an essential characteristic of civilization, and as such is the 'seedbed' of society.

    05/26/2004 2004

  • · To control weeds (an ideal seedbed is completely weedfree at planting time) · To incorporate (mix into the soil) liming materials and fertilizers (chemical or organic) · To shape the kind of seedbed most suited to the particular soil, climate, and crop (i.e., raised beds, ridges, flat seedbeds).

    Chapter 8 1981

  • So I suppose it's no surprise that a May 7 press release from the the World Congress of Families (WCF), an extremely conservative group that "seeks to restore the natural family as the fundamental social unit and the 'seedbed' of civil society," accused CCF of wanting to '' de-institutionalize marriage "and of celebrating the fact" that an increasing number of women are choosing not to marry and have children. "

    Stephanie Coontz: Unconventional Wisdom on Families 2008

  • As we've seen abroad, various social networking media are the seedbed of movements such as Americans Elect and Smart Congress, which are slowly re-energizing individuals and helping them to mobilize rather than wait passively for elites who are more interested in maintaining the status quo than changing to come to their rescue.

    Christopher Holshek: Change or Be Changed Christopher Holshek 2011

  • As we've seen abroad, various social networking media are the seedbed of movements such as Americans Elect and Smart Congress, which are slowly re-energizing individuals and helping them to mobilize rather than wait passively for elites who are more interested in maintaining the status quo than changing to come to their rescue.

    Christopher Holshek: Change or Be Changed Christopher Holshek 2011

  • The seedbed roll is blue, it says, because that colour repels pests.

    Archive 2009-05-01 Jean 2009

  • Jonathan Evans, the head of the British Security Service MI5, was quoted as saying that "Al-Shabaab, an Islamist militia in Somalia, is closely aligned with al-Qaida, and Somalia shows many of the characteristics that made Afghanistan so dangerous a seedbed for terrorism in the period before the fall of the Taliban."

    Azeem Ibrahim: The Biggest Argument Against Staying in Afghanistan: Somalia Azeem Ibrahim 2010

  • Among the countries that have overthrown leaders, Tunisia presents the most fertile seedbed for democracy, say analysts: It has a relatively large and educated middle class.

    Tunisia Vote Stands as Test for the Region Charles Levinson 2011

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