breeding ground
Americannoun
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a place where animals breed or to which they return to breed.
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an environment suitable for or fostering the development of an idea, thing, etc..
a breeding ground for violence.
Etymology
Origin of breeding ground
First recorded in 1930–35
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
According to a new study published in The Astrophysical Journal, a ring-shaped area just beyond Jupiter's orbit acted as both an efficient and remarkably versatile "breeding ground" for planetesimals.
From Science Daily • May 26, 2026
“And that ambiguity naturally creates a breeding ground for people to play with the linguistic terms.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 11, 2026
She laid blame on social media, saying the internet was a "breeding ground" that made it possible for major powers to persuade people to "engage in espionage and spread propaganda" in exchange for payment.
From Barron's • Mar. 27, 2026
Michael Stocker, executive director of the acoustics group Ocean Conservation Research, has been leading whale-viewing trips to the gray whales’ breeding ground at San Ignacio Lagoon in Baja California since 2006.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 8, 2026
Another bonanza was the development of world trade routes, which by Roman times effectively joined the populations of Europe, Asia, and North Africa into one giant breeding ground for microbes.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
