Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

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

   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}.

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

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.

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

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

   Syn: To sprout; germinate; blossom.

Source : WordNet®

bud
     n 1: a partially opened flower
     2: a swelling on a plant stem consisting of overlapping
        immature leaves or petals
     [also: {budding}, {budded}]

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

bud
     v 1: develop buds; "The hibiscus is budding!"
     2: start to grow or develop; "a budding friendship"
     [also: {budding}, {budded}]

budding
     See {bud}