Showing results for "breeding"

• present participle of breed.

breeding

American  

[bree-ding] / ˈbri dɪŋ /

noun

• breedings
  plural

1. the producing of offspring.

2. the improvement or development of breeds of livestock, as by selective mating and hybridization.

3. Horticulture. the production of new forms by selection, crossing, and hybridizing.

4. training; nurture.

   He is a man of good breeding.

5. the result of upbringing or training as shown in behavior and manners; manners, especially good manners.

   You can tell when a person has breeding.

6. Energy. the production in a nuclear reactor of more fissile material than is consumed.

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breeding British  

/ ˈbriːdɪŋ /

noun

1. the process of bearing offspring; reproduction

2. the process of producing plants or animals by sexual reproduction

3. the result of good training, esp the knowledge of correct social behaviour; refinement

   a man of breeding

4. a person's line of descent

   his breeding was suspect

5. physics a process occurring in a nuclear reactor as a result of which more fissionable material is produced than is used up

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• nonbreeding
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• breedings
  plural

Etymology

Origin of breeding

Middle English word dating back to 1250–1300; see origin at breed, -ing ¹

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

breeding breedings

The stars of this "penguin parade" are from a wild colony on the island, numbering up to 40,000 seabirds at the height of the breeding season in the southern hemisphere's spring and summer.

From Barron's ● Aug. 20, 2026

This process supports a wide range of applications, including improved crop breeding, treatments for genetic diseases, and the creation of animal models used in drug development.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 19, 2026

How ironic that social media is the new breeding ground for the kind of toxicity that the people mining Panettiere’s death for views purport to abhor.

From Salon ● Aug. 18, 2026

The troop was in the midst of its breeding season and keepers said tensions could sometimes run high.

From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2026

The earliest herons to arrive on the breeding grounds have an advantage.

From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker

Louise Leatherdale, owner and co-founder of Leatherdale Farms in Long Lake, Minn., which is considered among the best breeders of dressage horses, said she might charge as little as $2,000 for two breedings.

From New York Times ● May 4, 2018

From there, he landed a job selling stallion breedings for the famed Walmac Farm.

From New York Times ● Apr. 2, 2015

In his new home, Yankee Gentleman quickly jumped from about 30 breedings to 94, at $5,000 per time.

From Time ● Apr. 28, 2010

Her mind was taken from morbid breedings as they climbed stairs and explored rooms and questioned agents.

From Youth Challenges by Clarence Budington Kelland

If her breedings, her bitterness of spirit manifested themselves, it was in a fixed undertone of pessimism and in an occasional outburst of recklessness that bewildered her brother.

From Flowing Gold by Rex Ellingwood Beach

Related Words

• development
• rearing
• training