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.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.