NOUN (1)

1. reproduction of some unicellular organisms (such as yeasts) by growth and specialization followed by the separation by constriction of a part of the parent;


ADJECTIVE (1)

1. beginning to develop;
- Example: "a budding genius"

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Bud \Bud\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Budded; p. pr. & vb. n.
   Budding.]
   1. To put forth or produce buds, as a plant; to grow, as a
      bud does, into a flower or shoot.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. To begin to grow, or to issue from a stock in the manner
      of a bud, as a horn.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. To be like a bud in respect to youth and freshness, or
      growth and promise; as, a budding virgin. --Shak.
      [1913 Webster]

   Syn: To sprout; germinate; blossom.
        [1913 Webster]

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Budding \Bud"ding\, n.
   1. The act or process of producing buds.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. (Biol.) A process of asexual reproduction, in which a new
      organism or cell is formed by a protrusion of a portion of
      the animal or vegetable organism, the bud thus formed
      sometimes remaining attached to the parent stalk or cell,
      at other times becoming free; gemmation. See Hydroidea.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. The act or process of ingrafting one kind of plant upon
      another stock by inserting a bud under the bark.
      [1913 Webster]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

budding
    adj 1: beginning to develop; "a budding genius"
    n 1: reproduction of some unicellular organisms (such as yeasts)
         by growth and specialization followed by the separation by
         constriction of a part of the parent