breeder
[bree-der]
- an animal, plant, or person that produces offspring or reproduces.
- a person who raises animals or plants primarily for breeding purposes.
- Also called breeder reactor. Energy. a nuclear reactor in which more fissile material is produced than is consumed.
- Slang: Disparaging and Offensive. a contemptuous term used by gays to refer to a heterosexual.
- Slang: Disparaging and Offensive. a contemptuous term used especially by child-free people to refer to a biological parent.
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Origin of breeder
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
breeder reactor
- a type of nuclear reactor that produces more fissionable material than it consumesCompare converter reactor See also fast-breeder reactor
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breeder
- a person who breeds plants or animals
- something that reproduces, esp to excessrabbits are persistent breeders
- an animal kept for breeding purposes
- a source or causea breeder of discontent
- short for breeder reactor
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for breeder reactor
breeder
1570s, "one who produces or originates," agent noun from breed (v.). Meaning "one who breeds cattle" or some other animal is recorded from 1530s. Of nuclear reactors, from 1948. As a scornful homosexual term for "heterosexual person," attested from 1986.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
breeder reactor
[brē′dər]
- A nuclear reactor that is used to create fissionable material (such as plutonium-239) by exposing nonfissionable material (such as uranium-238) to radiation. The source of the radiation is usually some other fissionable material. Breeder reactors produce more fissionable material than they use up.
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The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
breeder reactor
A nuclear reactor in which plutonium and other materials are produced as a by-product.
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Note
Breeder reactors are designed to produce more fuel than they consume.
Note
The development of the breeder reactor has been stopped in the United States, but continues to be pursued in Europe and Japan.
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.