inbreed
Americanverb (used with object)
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to breed (individuals of a closely related group) repeatedly.
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to breed within; engender.
verb (used without object)
verb
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to breed from unions between closely related individuals, esp over several generations
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(tr) to develop within; engender
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of inbreed
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.
See Examples For:
Now researchers have figured out one reason the critters are so hardy: they can inbreed, quite robustly, for generations.
From Time ● Dec. 7, 2011
It turns out that unlike most creatures, bedbugs are able to inbreed with close relatives and still produce generally healthy offspring.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 7, 2011
Bed bugs inbreed without ill effects, the researchers said, so even a single mated bed bug can lead to a colony of the blood-sucking insects.
From BusinessWeek ● Dec. 6, 2011
For such a group, to survive is to inbreed, and the Amish have more than survived; they now number 44,000.
From Time Magazine Archive
At the same time, the results may offer hope for endangered species with small or highly inbred populations.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 26, 2026
The firm’s potent culture, Mr. Blankfein once said, blended confidence and excellence with “an inbred insecurity that drives people.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 20, 2026
She added: "Winter mortality of lambs removes inbred individuals, removes bad genes, so the flock has this purging thing the whole time which I don't think we would be able to organise."
From BBC ● Sep. 29, 2025
Inside the painting is a rendering of Kenny the Tiger, the famous inbred white Bengal.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 11, 2025
As with language, the system is governed by genes, and there are genetic differences between species and between inbred animals of the same species.
From "The Lives of a Cell" by Lewis Thomas
Researchers believe this behavior may help this relatively small and isolated population avoid inbreeding and preserve genetic diversity.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 4, 2026
Even when recovery begins with a small group of surviving individuals, continued population growth can help offset the harmful effects of inbreeding and partially restore lost variation.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 6, 2026
In the meantime, populations are at risk of being wiped out by inbreeding, fierce wildfires or a number of other factors.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 12, 2026
In Southern California, lions have shown deformities from inbreeding, including kinked tails and malformed sperm.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 10, 2025
But selective inbreeding via marriage, Wells argued, might paradoxically produce weaker and duller generations.
From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee
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.
