bud off

English

Verb

bud off (third-person singular simple present buds off, present participle budding off, simple past and past participle budded off)

1. Of a bud, to split from its parent and form a new plant, etc.; of a plant, to have a bud split off and form a new plant.
   • 1898, H.G. Wells, The War of the Worlds, London: William Heinemann, page 209:

     A young Martian, there can now be no dispute, was really born upon earth during the war, and it was found attached to its parent, partially budded off, just as young lily bulbs bud off, or the young animals in the fresh-water polyp.