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Glite Dictionary
to sow the seeds of

to sow the seeds of

5 6.3
To cause a small action now that brings bigger effects later
  • idiom
  • Informal
: sembrar las semillas de
  • In fact, they had sown the seeds of their own destruction.
  • sow the seeds of their own

Social media is the narcissistic person's playground when it comes to getting more supply and sowing the seeds of jealousy.

Examples

  • His predatory approach to unification having failed, bin Laden sowed the seeds of a new strategy.

    Academic text (2011)

  • They have sowed the seeds of revolution.

  • Or a failure that actually really sowed the seeds of a later success.

  • We are getting the products we need whilst sowing the seeds of democracy.

  • By failing these children, we sow the seeds of lost generations.

    Academic text (2007)

  • America has sown the seeds of its own demise.

    Blog text (22)

  • Ignorance has sown the seeds of our own destruction.

    Blog text (22)

  • We increasingly relegate ourselves to irrelevancy and sow the seeds of our own demise.

    Blog text (25)

  • As successful as Dayton was at ending the violence, it also sowed the seeds of instability by creating a decentralized political system that undermined the state's authority.

    Academic text (2009)

  • By starting this community project, we are sowing the seeds of long-term change in our neighborhood.

Synonyms

to sow
vsto sow the seeds of
63 6.6

To cause an idea or feeling to grow among people

focuses on causing a particular consequential result rather than general spreading
to engender
vsto sow the seeds of
  • Formal
28 6.9

To make a feeling or situation start

refers to causing concrete future consequences rather than mainly feelings
to beget
vsto sow the seeds of
23 7.9

To cause something to happen or exist

is more about causing long term significant developments rather than immediate causation
to lay the foundation
vsto sow the seeds of
19 3.9

To make things ready so something can succeed

aims at causing a particular future result, not only building groundwork
to plant a seed of doubt
vsto sow the seeds of
  • Informal
1 5.9

To make someone begin to feel unsure about something

is broader, applying to many consequential future results rather than only uncertainty
to sow the seeds of change
vsto sow the seeds of
  • Informal
1 5.0

Start small actions that lead to change later

is broader, causing significant future results beyond a single transformation

How Likely

to bring about
166 3.0
to spark
216 3.4
to sow the seeds of
  • Informal
5 6.3
hint
276 1.5

Surface Forms

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

Morphology

sow + the + seed + of

The phrase uses a clear agricultural metaphor: 'sow' (to plant) plus 'seeds' (small beginnings) naturally implies causing something to start and grow, so a learner who knows the constituent words can infer the meaning 'cause/develop' of a future outcome. This mapping is common cross-linguistically and follows predictable compositional logic in English, making it readily understandable to a B1 learner.

Etymology

Sow the seeds of comes from farming: to sow is to plant seeds that grow later. So, when someone 'sows the seeds of' something, their action starts a process that will grow into a 'future result'.