breeding

[ bree-ding ]
See synonyms for breeding on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. the producing of offspring.

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

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

  2. training; nurture: He is a man of good breeding.

  3. the result of upbringing or training as shown in behavior and manners; manners, especially good manners: You can tell when a person has breeding.

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

Origin of breeding

1
Middle English word dating back to 1250–1300; see origin at breed, -ing1

Other words from breeding

  • non·breed·ing, adjective, noun

Words Nearby breeding

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use breeding in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for breeding

breeding

/ (ˈbriːdɪŋ) /


noun
  1. the process of bearing offspring; reproduction

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

  1. the result of good training, esp the knowledge of correct social behaviour; refinement: a man of breeding

  2. a person's line of descent: his breeding was suspect

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

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