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Botany.

a small axillary or terminal protuberance on a plant, containing rudimentary foliage (leaf bud) the rudimentary inflorescence (flower bud) or both (mixed bud)
an undeveloped or rudimentary stem or branch of a plant.

Zoology. (in certain animals of low organization) a prominence that develops into a new individual, sometimes permanently attached to the parent and sometimes becoming detached; gemma.
Mycology. a small, rounded outgrowth produced from a fungus spore or cell by a process of asexual reproduction, eventually separating from the parent cell as a new individual: commonly produced by yeast and a few other fungi.
Anatomy. any small rounded part.
an immature or undeveloped person or thing.
to put forth or produce buds.
to begin to develop.
to be in an early stage of development.
to cause to bud.
Horticulture. to graft by inserting a single bud into the stock.
in the bud, in an immature or undeveloped state:
a Shakespeare in the bud.
Also, in bud.
nip in the bud, to stop (something) in the beginning of its development:
The rebellion was nipped in the bud.
Historical Examples

Northern Nut Growers Association Report of the Proceedings at the Various
David Elginbrod George MacDonald
The Book of Roses Francis Parkman
Patchwork Anna Balmer Myers
Plays by August Strindberg, Third Series August Strindberg
Harper’s Young People, June 8, 1880 Various
The Pecan and its Culture H. Harold Hume
The Letters Of Mark Twain, Volume 3, 1876-1885 Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens)
History of California Helen Elliott Bandini
Cornell Nature-Study Leaflets Various

noun
a swelling on a plant stem consisting of overlapping immature leaves or petals

a partially opened flower
(in combination): rosebud

any small budlike outgrowth: taste buds
something small or immature
an asexually produced outgrowth in simple organisms, such as yeasts, and the hydra that develops into a new individual
a slang word for marijuana
in bud, at the stage of producing buds
nip in the bud, to put an end to (an idea, movement, etc) in its initial stages
verb buds, budding, budded
(intransitive) (of plants and some animals) to produce buds
(intransitive) to begin to develop or grow
(transitive) (horticulture) to graft (a bud) from one plant onto another, usually by insertion under the bark
noun
(informal, mainly US) short for buddy
n.
v.

v. bud·ded, bud·ding, buds

bud
(bŭd)
Noun

Verb To form or produce a bud or buds.

Friend; fellow; guy •Used only in direct address, often with hostile intent: Okay, bud, that’ll do (1850s+)
A very close friend; buddy, pal: Just be glad I’m your bud/ She hid out with various buds and in runaway shelters (1930s+)

Budweiser [beer]
Ferihegy Airport (Budapest, Hungary)
see: nip in the bud