breed
to produce (offspring); procreate; engender.
to produce by mating; propagate sexually; reproduce: Ten mice were bred in the laboratory.
Horticulture.
to cause to reproduce by controlled pollination.
to improve by controlled pollination and selection.
to raise (cattle, sheep, etc.): He breeds longhorns on the ranch.
to cause or be the source of; engender; give rise to: Dirt breeds disease. Stagnant water breeds mosquitoes.
to develop by training or education; bring up; rear: He was born and bred a gentleman.
Energy. to produce more fissile nuclear fuel than is consumed in a reactor.
to impregnate; mate: Breed a strong mare with a fast stallion and hope for a Derby winner.
to produce offspring: Many animals breed in the spring.
to be engendered or produced; grow; develop: Bacteria will not breed in alcohol.
to cause the birth of young, as in raising stock.
to be pregnant.
Genetics. a relatively homogenous group of animals within a species, developed and maintained by humans.
lineage; stock; strain: She comes from a fine breed of people.
sort; kind; group: Scholars are a quiet breed.
Disparaging and Offensive. half-breed (def. 1).
Origin of breed
1Other words for breed
Other words from breed
- breed·a·ble, adjective
- o·ver·breed, verb (used with object), o·ver·bred, o·ver·breed·ing.
- re·breed, verb, re·bred, re·breed·ing.
- subbreed, noun
Words Nearby breed
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use breed in a sentence
No, those dogs were trained to do that behavior, wouldn’t naturally have done that behavior, and there was nothing about the breed which is different.
Forget Everything You Know About Your Dog (Ep. 436) | Stephen J. Dubner | October 22, 2020 | FreakonomicsBrazil’s herds are dominated by Nelore, a hardy breed that lacks the carcass and meat quality of breeds like Angus but can withstand high heat and humidity.
Biotechnology Could Change the Cattle Industry. Will It Succeed? | Dyllan Furness | August 16, 2020 | Singularity HubHolstein cattle, which almost always carry horned genes, are highly productive dairy cows, so using conventional breeding to introduce hornless genes from less productive breeds can compromise the Holstein’s productivity.
Biotechnology Could Change the Cattle Industry. Will It Succeed? | Dyllan Furness | August 16, 2020 | Singularity HubScientists will have to look at the methylomes of different dog breeds to see if they differ.
To figure out your dog’s ‘real’ age, you’ll need a calculator | Bethany Brookshire | August 12, 2020 | Science News For StudentsThis mathematical exercise gives an objective and seemingly precise number for the genetic contribution from each breed.
How to Design (or at Least Model) Mixed Dog Breeds | Pradeep Mutalik | July 31, 2020 | Quanta Magazine
The attempt to “breed back” the Auroch of Teutonic legend was of a piece with the Nazi obsession with racial purity and eugenics.
A male and female who do most of the mating dominate packs, and younger subordinates only breed occasionally.
Mongooses, Meerkats, and Ants, Oh My! Why Some Animals Keep Mating All in the Family | Helen Thompson | December 29, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTThey seem to be a slightly different breed from those in New York or London.
Stephen Merchant Talks ‘Hello Ladies’ movie, the Nicole Kidman Cameo, and Legacy of ‘The Office’ | Marlow Stern | November 22, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTPerhaps, once in awhile, scarcity will breed rational thinking, too.
Explosion of Cute: Inside the Superfan Mania of Hello Kitty Con 2014 | Sarah Bay Williams | November 2, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTAnd I am truly preserving something unique because those garments are like a dying breed.
Tatiana Sorokko Is the Queen of Vintage Couture | Anthony Haden-Guest | October 8, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTHe was a new breed, that parson, a genuwine no-two-alike, come-one-in-a-box kind.
Alec Lloyd, Cowpuncher | Eleanor GatesWhen Mac started Gregory back he told him that we would be along presently, then sat himself down on a rock and watched the breed.
Raw Gold | Bertrand W. SinclairBut such a thing as happened this morning must breed doubts and suspicions in a woman who has had the experience I have had.
Bella Donna | Robert HichensNone breed, however, in Guernsey itself, or in any of the little rocky islands immediately surrounding it.
Birds of Guernsey (1879) | Cecil SmithIt stays on through the winter, but never remains to breed as it does regularly at Lundy Island.
Birds of Guernsey (1879) | Cecil Smith
British Dictionary definitions for breed
/ (briːd) /
to bear (offspring)
(tr) to bring up; raise
to produce or cause to produce by mating; propagate
to produce and maintain new or improved strains of (domestic animals and plants)
to produce or be produced; generate: to breed trouble; violence breeds in densely populated areas
a group of organisms within a species, esp a group of domestic animals, originated and maintained by man and having a clearly defined set of characteristics
a lineage or race: a breed of Europeans
a kind, sort, or group: a special breed of hatred
Origin of breed
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Scientific definitions for breed
[ brēd ]
To produce or reproduce by giving birth or hatching.
To raise animals or plants, often to produce new or improved types.
A group of organisms having common ancestors and sharing certain traits that are not shared with other members of the same species. Breeds are usually produced by mating selected parents.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Other Idioms and Phrases with breed
see familiarity breeds contempt.
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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