breed
verb (used with object)
to produce (offspring); procreate; engender.
were breeding
-
past progressiveof breed.past progressive
Used to describe an ongoing action or continuous state that was happening at a specific time in the past.
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.
And in that humidity, mosquitoes were breeding — and biting.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 22, 2026
He said the problem was irresponsible breeders were breeding high DNA content animals that were "perfectly legal on paper".
From BBC ● Jan. 11, 2026
But, he emphasized, “Long before we were breeding dogs for their appearances, we were breeding them for behavioral traits.”
From New York Times ● Dec. 8, 2022
Skeptical scientists asserted that the insects were breeding fine in northern climes but that something was taking them out on their way to Mexico.
From Scientific American ● Mar. 2, 2020
The reactors at Hanford, however, were breeding plutonium in sufficient volume to make a test feasible and provide for an unlimited number of plutonium bombs afterward.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
