1no object (of animals) mate and then produce offspring.

1. 1.1with object Cause (an animal) to produce offspring, especially in a controlled and organized way.
   ‘he wants to see the animals his new stock has been bred from’
   More example sentences

   • ‘Cows were bred to Brangus bulls during the 60-d breeding season, with 1 bull per 18 cows.’
   • ‘Hereford sires were bred to Angus and MARC III cows.’
   • ‘Mules, animals that result from breeding a male donkey with a female horse, are usually sterile.’
   • ‘Researchers bred mice and monitored their offspring for DNA mutations passed through the sperm of the father.’
   • ‘The dog was bred to another one of the dogs on his farm.’
   • ‘Researchers planned to breed the chickens and study their offspring.’
   • ‘Cows are bred, calves are produced and animals are sold off the farm.’
   • ‘These little tiny innocent mice were bred at my facility for generation studies in some experiments.’
   • ‘Most farmers breed pigs, sheep, and dairy cattle, from which they obtain meat, wool, milk, cheese, and butter.’
   • ‘Andre says her next steps are to try to breed the species and eventually release some back into the wild.’
   • ‘For to breed the dog would be to cause a worse-off rather than a better-off individual to exist.’
   • ‘You can also breed your dogs, and either keep them or sell the puppies to your friends via link up.’
   • ‘I noticed the horse was bred in the palace as it was the pure white colour only royal horses had.’
   • ‘One does not need Stonehenge to know when to plant seeds or when to breed cattle.’
   • ‘They also told him that they were breeding Bride in Blue to Seattle Slew.’
   • ‘If she is bred, I won't be able to ride her for quite some time.’
   • ‘He had the burnished-copper eye color that she had been seeking, so she bred him to one of her best Burmese females.’
   • ‘He was bred between the strongest and fastest horses of the desert.’
   • ‘In the spring, she had plans to breed him with Snow.’
   • ‘He added, looking down at the mare, ‘She is about four years old, and this Spring should be bred for the first time.’’
2. 1.2with object Develop (a kind of animal or plant) for a particular purpose or quality.
   ‘these horses are bred for this sport’
   More example sentences

   • ‘Most leeks can be harvested for use as baby leeks, but some varieties are bred for culinary appeal as baby leeks.’
   • ‘Hybrid seeds, on the other hand, are bred for qualities such as longevity or disease resistance.’
   • ‘Many seed catalogs feature varieties that are bred for small size plots - and organic too!’
   • ‘All commercial potato varieties grown in North America are bred for low levels of solanine.’
   • ‘Those currently being used were bred for forage production.’
   • ‘One would expect the Chinook, which was bred for function, not form, to be free of genetic disease.’
   • ‘The horses this elite group invested in were bred for beauty, intelligence, strength, and speed.’
   • ‘Thus, the sheepdogs developed for use on the islands were bred for agility, brains and speed.’
   • ‘One of the oldest breeds, the lizard canary, is bred for the spangled effect of its feathers.’
   • ‘To make the process more precise, plant varieties are often bred to express a limited range of traits.’
   • ‘The best kind of bees is the bumble bee, which are bred for their speed and noise.’
   • ‘They are bred for power, speediness, and stamina though height somehow made itself known within their pedigree.’
   • ‘It follows that if you want an authentic border collie, you must get one that was bred for livestock work.’
   • ‘Dumb and silent, they are bred for domestic tasks or field work.’
   • ‘The cattle were bred for endurance, the method deemed best for inducing marbling.’
   • ‘Commonly, these also had a snake nursery where snakes were bred for use for the healing ceremonies.’
   • ‘Dogs are bred for profit only, and there is virtually no concern for the health or emotional well-being of these animals.’
   • ‘She could try to outrun them, but their horses were bred for endurance in this desert land.’
   • ‘Being bred for companionship they need it as well.’
   • ‘Dachshunds were originally bred to go down badger holes and kill badgers.’
   Synonyms

   rear, raise, nurture

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3. 1.3with object Rear and train (someone) to behave in a particular way or have certain qualities.
   ‘I was raised in an artistic household and bred to be a musician’
   More example sentences

   • ‘they breed their children to be in complete control of any social situation’
   • ‘This was his job and what he was practically bred to do.’
   • ‘It's like stereotypical teenager stuff that she's practically bred to say.’
   • ‘In this increasingly technological world, we must breed scientists, not just engineers; thinkers, not just doers.’
   • ‘She's from the West Coast, and they breed strong women down there.’
   • ‘One of your skills as a coach is to breed these personalities, not as individuals, but how they interact in a group.’
   • ‘These types of cases breed other cases, breed other victims.’
   • ‘She breeds dancers whose execution is invariably clean and gentle - a dream of lyricism.’
   • ‘There's just something about that part of the country that just breeds crazy daredevils.’
   • ‘One cannot but feel that the prison system breeds criminals instead of rehabilitating them.’
   • ‘They breed their grannies tough out there, make no mistake.’
   • ‘Our capabilities to learn are boundless but not every person is bred to be a goody-goody.’
   • ‘We hope the programme will start to breed a new generation of filmmakers who would have otherwise never had an opportunity to develop their work.’
   • ‘This community has bred generations of brilliant and determined mothers and fathers.’
   • ‘It is this sort of attitude that breeds winners.’
   • ‘We are literally breeding people to fail, and then allowing them to do so.’
   • ‘I think that the coaches' goal should be to create an environment that breeds people wanting to stay inside the program.’
   • ‘The region seemed to breed athletes with a burning desire required at the top level.’
   Synonyms

   bring up, rear, raise, nurture

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4. 1.4with object Cause (something) to happen or occur, typically over a period of time.
   ‘success breeds confidence’
   More example sentences

   • ‘Naturally, I concluded that athletic success bred confidence that carries through into professional life.’
   • ‘Or could it be that beauty breeds fame and success?’
   • ‘Usually, success breeds envy and resentment, but we've stayed good friends.’
   • ‘As you mentioned, success breeds competition.’
   • ‘And so in a sense success breeds its own failure.’
   • ‘In television, more than any other business, success breeds imitation.’
   • ‘In fact, ‘success’ has similarly bred disaster.’
   • ‘Put very crudely, familiarity and success bred scepticism and contempt.’
   • ‘Our local practices breed complacency and led us to take shortcuts.’
   • ‘It breeds resentment, and often leads to increased violence and serious abuse.’
   • ‘What are the general factors that breed terrorism?’
   • ‘Effective communication in the employee-supervisor relationship breeds trust and better understanding.’
   • ‘As she saw it, even occasional laziness breeds disaster.’
   • ‘Openness means equality; it breeds fairness which results in strength.’
   • ‘Such experience bred self-reliance and general hardiness among the settlers.’
   • ‘When addressing creativity, the general rule is quantity breeds quality!’
   • ‘Success breeds success and the entire animation category needs a boost these days.’
   • ‘It breeds an atmosphere of competition which has, over time, become hostility.’
   • ‘Collusion in under-age drinking starts at home and adult abuse breeds imitation’.’
   • ‘This is not a track record that breeds confidence.’
   Synonyms

   cause, bring about, give rise to, lead to, create, produce, generate, spawn, foster, occasion, make for, result in

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5. 1.5Physics with object Create (fissile material) by nuclear reaction.
   ‘The reactor was designed for breeding plutonium and can readily be converted to do so.’
   More example sentences

   • ‘The breeding reactor is included in the cooling circuit with a lower coolant temperature.’
   • ‘Only small fractions of these fertile elements are needed for clandestine breeding of fissionable fuels.’

1A stock of animals or plants within a species having a distinctive appearance and typically having been developed by deliberate selection.

1. 1.1A sort or kind of person or thing.
   ‘a new breed of entrepreneurs was brought into being’
   More example sentences

   • ‘There were breeds of all sorts talking and singing, having a good time.’
   • ‘It was said that entrepreneurs were a special breed, more driven to succeed than the rest of us.’
   • ‘We must find a way to accommodate both breeds of military professional.’
   • ‘Make no mistake; modern CEOs are generally an outstanding breed.’
   • ‘He was a transition figure - the last of the World War II heroic generals and the first of a new breed, the managerial generals.’
   • ‘If you're a fan of the old-school jungle sound or even part of the new breed of fans, pick up this mix.’
   • ‘I present a new breed of cultural critic, unleashing a fresh brand of polysyllabic pontification.’
   • ‘Meanwhile a new breed of artists was advancing another brand of banality, with divisive effects on the art world.’
   • ‘But it just goes to show you what sort of breed of people lived in our wee town.’
   • ‘One of the new breed of sneaker brands is straight outta Orange County.’
   • ‘The new breed of woman writer has a $500,000 first contract and a very specific aesthetic and social profile.’
   • ‘There's a whole new breed of this kind of activity and it's on the Internet.’
   • ‘Silicon Valley-style entrepreneurs are still a rare breed in both countries.’
   • ‘By contrast, her second husband seems another breed entirely.’
   • ‘Lots of industry people there for that strange breed of person who enjoy that sort of thing.’
   • ‘It takes a certain kind of breed of person to jump on the back of a bull.’
   • ‘It's also nice to see a variety show again and any star that can bring that breed of show back to life can't be all bad.’
   • ‘The wine of interest to this new breed of wine merchant typically sits in an unbroken case in Britain.’
   • ‘I am currently dating one of the dominant species of my breed.’
   • ‘It was as if a new species, a new breed of humans had come into my knowledge.’
   Synonyms

   type, kind, sort, variety, class, genre, genus, order, calibre, brand, generation, vintage

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