linebreeding

[ lahyn-bree-ding ]

nounGenetics.

a form of inbreeding directed toward keeping the offspring closely related to a superior ancestor.

Origin of linebreeding

An Americanism dating back to 1875–80; line¹ + breeding

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

How to use linebreeding in a sentence

In line breeding you breed the father to his daughter and the son to his mother.
The Raising and Care of Guinea Pigs | A. C. Smith
Line-breeding is the breeding together of dogs of the same general strain, comparable to second or third cousins among people.
The Airedale | Williams Haynes
By line breeding, we mean breeding the same stock without getting new males.
The Raising and Care of Guinea Pigs | A. C. Smith

British Dictionary definitions for line breeding

line breeding

noun

selective inbreeding that produces individuals possessing one or more of the favourable characteristics of their common ancestor

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

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