breed

[ breed ]

/ brid /

SEE SYNONYMS FOR breed ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object), bred, breed·ing.

to produce (offspring); procreate; engender.

to produce by mating; propagate sexually; reproduce: Ten mice were bred in the laboratory.

Horticulture.

to cause to reproduce by controlled pollination.
to improve by controlled pollination and selection.

to raise (cattle, sheep, etc.): He breeds longhorns on the ranch.

to cause or be the source of; engender; give rise to: Dirt breeds disease. Stagnant water breeds mosquitoes.

to develop by training or education; bring up; rear: He was born and bred a gentleman.

Energy. to produce more fissile nuclear fuel than is consumed in a reactor.

to impregnate; mate: Breed a strong mare with a fast stallion and hope for a Derby winner.

verb (used without object), bred, breed·ing.

to produce offspring: Many animals breed in the spring.

to be engendered or produced; grow; develop: Bacteria will not breed in alcohol.

to cause the birth of young, as in raising stock.

to be pregnant.

noun

Genetics. a relatively homogenous group of animals within a species, developed and maintained by humans.

lineage; stock; strain: She comes from a fine breed of people.

sort; kind; group: Scholars are a quiet breed.

Disparaging and Offensive. half-breed(def 1).

Origin of breed

before 1000; Middle English breden, Old English brēdan to nourish (cognate with Old High German bruotan, German brüten); noun use from 16th century

SYNONYMS FOR breed

1, 2 beget, bear, generate.

5 promote, occasion, foster, produce, induce, develop.

14 family, pedigree, line.

SEE SYNONYMS FOR breed ON THESAURUS.COM

OTHER WORDS FROM breed

breed·a·ble, adjective o·ver·breed, verb (used with object), o·ver·bred, o·ver·breed·ing. re·breed, verb, re·bred, re·breed·ing. sub·breed, noun

Words nearby breed

breeches part, breeching, breechless, breechloader, breechloading, breed, breed of cat, breed's hill, breeder, breeder reactor, breeding

Example sentences from the Web for breed

A male and female who do most of the mating dominate packs, and younger subordinates only breed occasionally.

Mongooses, Meerkats, and Ants, Oh My! Why Some Animals Keep Mating All in the Family |Helen Thompson |December 29, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
Perhaps, once in awhile, scarcity will breed rational thinking, too.

Explosion of Cute: Inside the Superfan Mania of Hello Kitty Con 2014 |Sarah Bay Williams |November 2, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
He is probably the last of the breed of rural Democrats who are passing from the scene.

The Democrats’ Great Plains Firewall: Can Joe Dorman Take the Oklahoma Statehouse? |David Freedlander |October 3, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
But an island any less menacing would fail to breed a villain who could hope to spar with James Bond.

Japan's James Bond Villain Ghost Town |Nina Strochlic |August 7, 2014 |DAILY BEAST

EIA found that some companies are issued licenses to breed endangered animals, including the South China Tiger.

China Is Brewing Wine From Tiger Bones |Brendon Hong |July 22, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
Sir William Stanley used to breed some fifty pointers yearly.

The Dog |Dinks, Mayhew, and Hutchinson
We breed and fatten a large number of pigs on the clearings round the shanty.

Brighter Britain! (Volume 1 of 2) |William Delisle Hay
The dog owner does not as a rule think it worth while to post himself on the history and points of the breed.

The Airedale |Williams Haynes
They can be buried in the earth, till they breed worms and stink.

The Expositor's Bible: The Pastoral Epistles |Alfred Plummer
Breeds of poultry are usually divided into three separate classes, depending on the place where the breed originated.

Outdoor Sports and Games |Claude H. Miller

British Dictionary definitions for breed

breed

/ (briːd) /

verb breeds, breeding or bred

to bear (offspring)

(tr) to bring up; raise

to produce or cause to produce by mating; propagate

to produce and maintain new or improved strains of (domestic animals and plants)

to produce or be produced; generate to breed trouble; violence breeds in densely populated areas

noun

a group of organisms within a species, esp a group of domestic animals, originated and maintained by man and having a clearly defined set of characteristics

a lineage or race a breed of Europeans

a kind, sort, or group a special breed of hatred

Word Origin for breed

Old English brēdan, of Germanic origin; related to brood

Scientific definitions for breed

breed

[ brēd ]

Verb

To produce or reproduce by giving birth or hatching.

To raise animals or plants, often to produce new or improved types.

Noun

A group of organisms having common ancestors and sharing certain traits that are not shared with other members of the same species. Breeds are usually produced by mating selected parents.

Idioms and Phrases with breed

breed

see familiarity breeds contempt.

BROWSE DICTIONARY

Learning

breed

verb (used with object), bred, breed·ing.

verb (used without object), bred, breed·ing.

noun

Origin of breed

SYNONYMS FOR breed

OTHER WORDS FROM breed

Words nearby breed

Example sentences from the Web for breed

British Dictionary definitions for breed

verb breeds, breeding or bred

noun

Word Origin for breed

Scientific definitions for breed

Verb

Noun

Idioms and Phrases with breed

BROWSE DICTIONARY

Learning

breed

verb (used with object), bred, breed·ing.

verb (used without object), bred, breed·ing.

noun

Origin of breed

SYNONYMS FOR breed

OTHER WORDS FROM breed

Words nearby breed

Words related to breed

Example sentences from the Web for breed

(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []) .push({}); British Dictionary definitions for breed

verb breeds, breeding or bred

noun

Word Origin for breed

Scientific definitions for breed

Verb

Noun

Idioms and Phrases with breed

British Dictionary definitions for breed