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

In the autumn and winter months, it also plays host to thousands of breeding seals, while about 250 species of migrating birds use it as a stopover point.

From BBC ● Sep. 4, 2026

Mark Newell, UKCEH's field manager on the Isle of May, said he was concerned future "extreme weather events" could affect the breeding ability of puffins and other species.

From BBC ● Sep. 4, 2026

He owns a ranch for breeding race horses and has frequented the Texas charity circuit.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 30, 2026

Adult cuttlefish typically die after breeding so each mating season is crucial for the species' future, but in recent months, just 440 eggs have been counted, instead of the millions that are usually laid.

From BBC ● Aug. 29, 2026

And so, if programs for breeding domestic animals can be introduced, at least some of the remaining wildlife will have a chance.

From "My Life with the Chimpanzees" by Jane Goodall

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

Why, then, these foreign thoughts of state-employments, Abhorrent to your function and your breedings?

From The works of John Dryden, now first collected in eighteen volumes. Volume 07 by Sir Walter Scott

But it is ended—the abhorrent restraint, the anxiety, the breedings over a thousand possible and impossible schemes of revenge.

From The Purple Land by W. H. (William Henry) Hudson

Related Words

• development
• rearing
• training