sow the seeds of

verb

To carry out a certain action which will eventually bring about a particular result.

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Meanings

verbsow the seeds of (third-person singular simple present sows the seeds of, present participle sowing the seeds of, simple past sowed the seeds of, past participle sown the seeds of)

present singular third person sows the seeds of · participle present sowing the seeds of · past sowed the seeds of · participle past sown the seeds of

  1. idiomaticTo carry out a certain action which will eventually bring about a particular result.

    I welcome the deal, but hope the continuing disagreements about modernisation do not sow the seeds of the next dispute.

    2023 April 5, Philip Haigh, “Comment: Pay deal a positive result”, in RAIL, number 980, page 3
Cite this entry
APA

sow the seeds of. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sow%20the%20seeds%20of

MLA

“sow the seeds of.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sow%20the%20seeds%20of. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “sow the seeds of,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sow%20the%20seeds%20of.

Source: sow the seeds of on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.