sire
Americannoun
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the male parent of a quadruped.
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a respectful term of address, now used only to a male sovereign.
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Archaic.
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a father or forefather.
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a person of importance or in a position of authority, as a lord.
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verb (used with object)
noun
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a male parent, esp of a horse or other domestic animal
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a respectful term of address, now used only in addressing a male monarch
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obsolete a man of high rank
verb
Other Word Forms
- sireless adjective
Etymology
Origin of sire
1175–1225; Middle English < Old French (nominative singular) < Vulgar Latin *seior, for Latin senior senior (compare French monsieur originally, my lord, with sieur < *seiōr-, oblique stem of *seior )
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.
Baffert’s influence can also be found in the breeding for this race with six having been sired by horses that Baffert has trained.
From Los Angeles Times
He has sired five chicks and, alongside his partner is considered “the most dominant condor pair in the park,” according to the Oregon Zoo.
From Seattle Times
Mouse pups sired by dysbiotic fathers showed significantly lower birth weights and an increased rate of postnatal mortality.
From Science Daily
He grew to nearly 15 feet tall and sired three offspring, who went on to other zoos.
From Seattle Times
Both babies were sired by Kiburi, a 19-year-old silverback brought to the zoo from Tenerife in Spain’s Canary Islands as part of a conservation breeding program to help preserve the critically endangered gorilla subspecies.
From Seattle Times
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.