Definition of breed in English:

breed

verbbred

[with object]

1(of animals) mate and then produce offspring.
‘toads are said to return to the pond of their birth to breed’
- ‘There are, he says, at least 200 different species of bacteria breeding feverishly behind your lips.’
- ‘Some Australian bird species or parrot species will breed quite happily here in captivity.’
- ‘And they also believe that the creatures are breeding in our countryside.’
- ‘One thing he had not been able to figure out was how the creatures bred.’
- ‘At remote Point Bennett on San Miguel, seals and sea lions breed and pup in spectacular numbers.’
- ‘The current roster has more than 50 stallions breeding on five continents.’
- ‘But can so much really rest on the fortunes of 58 species of butterfly breeding in Britain?’
- ‘Did you know men cows will never breed with the same cow twice.’
- ‘One should also remember that cattle breed once per year, or sometimes not at all.’
- ‘A captive pair of wounded, flightless eagles had bred and produced an egg, something that almost never happens.’
- ‘Keep manure dry, since wet manure promotes fly pest breeding and inhibits beneficial insect breeding.’
- ‘The tiger breeds very easily, even in captivity.’
- ‘Birds might breed there, but in fact the reproduction success is not high enough to maintain the population.’
- ‘Larvae breed in woodland pools filled by melting snows or by spring rains.’
- ‘Now that does seem like a lot, but these birds breed at an incredibly slow rate, with an incredibly low rate of juvenile success.’
- ‘California red-legged frogs breed in aquatic habitats such as streams, ponds, marshes, and stock ponds.’
- ‘These birds breed primarily on coastal beaches from southern Washington to southern Baja California, Mexico.’
- ‘Bored pet owners released them and the birds bred.’
- ‘If the predator breeds faster than the prey, eventually the predators run out of food and starve.’
- ‘Flies can breed in infected faeces and contaminate food.’
reproduce, produce offspring, procreate, bear young, multiply, propagate
View synonyms
1. 1.1with object Cause (an animal) to produce offspring, especially in a controlled and organized way.
  ‘bitches may not be bred from more than once a year’
  ‘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 variety of animal or plant) for a particular purpose or quality.
  ‘these horses are bred for this sport’
  ‘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.’
  rear, raise, nurture
  View synonyms
3. 1.3with object Rear and train (someone) to behave in a particular way.
  ‘Theodora had been beautifully bred’
  ‘I brought you up and bred you and this is how you repay me?’
  ‘If we were to breed you for hosts, how could we keep you knowledgeable, but subservient?’
  ‘Seems like the better bred you are, the more of a jerk you turn out to be.’
  ‘Her Mom had bred her for Justine when she was two years old.’
  ‘She knew she really shouldn't be taking it out on him, after all this was his job and what he was practically bred to do.’
  ‘Grandfather looked at me in anger, not so much at me, but in the world that bred us to be enemies for no reason.’
  ‘It's like stereotypical teenager stuff that she's practically bred to say.’
  ‘They own us, and breed us, and take the fruits of our labor.’
  ‘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.’
  ‘In India, IT is not just breeding billionaires and Internet addicts.’
  ‘For all their vaunted intelligence and breeding people enjoy their symbols and they like to gloat.’
  ‘They breed their grannies tough out there in Lithuania, make no mistake.’
  ‘Our capabilities to learn are boundless but not every person is bred to be a goody-goody.’
  ‘They saw themselves as well-born and bred men who out of loyalty and conscience had chosen to defend their king.’
  bring up, rear, raise, nurture
  View synonyms
4. 1.4with object Produce or lead to (something) over a period of time.
  ‘success had bred a certain arrogance’
  ‘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.’
  cause, bring about, give rise to, lead to, create, produce, generate, spawn, foster, occasion, make for, result in
  View synonyms
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.’
  ‘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.’

noun

1A stock of animals or plants within a species having a distinctive appearance and typically having been developed by deliberate selection.
‘the big continental breeds are eagerly being imported by British farmers’
- ‘This text would be very applicable for an introductory course in animal breeds, selection, evaluation and judging.’
- ‘I would point out that we have special breeds of animals that we bred for hundreds of years.’
- ‘In the section for cattle, about 600 stud animals of 15 different breeds and 16 slaughter steers have been entered.’
- ‘As someone who supports rare breeds and animal welfare, I'll have to side with PETA on this one.’
- ‘It's one way of keeping yourself up-to-date on what's happening, especially with a plant breed.’
- ‘The quantity and quality of fats in traditional animal breeds varies, too.’
- ‘Most calves in Britain are cross-breds with blood from both native and continental breeds.’
- ‘Rankings for purebred producers are useful within respective breeds.’
- ‘This should also be true of cattle within the same breed.’
- ‘Furthermore, since humans have been in New Zealand, many breeds of native flora and fauna have become extinct.’
- ‘He wrestles crocodiles and captures all breeds of dangerous animals for a living.’
- ‘Even so, some dogs within these breeds bark more than they should, some more than others.’
- ‘These values enhance the accuracy of selection decisions by establishing the relative genetic value of a sire within a breed.’
- ‘We talked about the breed species and of its culture.’
- ‘Each steer within a breed group was randomly assigned a number between one and four.’
- ‘They went to great lengths to find the most powerful of each animal breed, and take a fang from their mouths.’
- ‘The origin of the Maltese as a distinct breed has never been precisely determined.’
- ‘Once you decide which breed you'd like to raise, what kind of facilities will you need?’
- ‘Regardless of what breed you choose, or where it comes from, ALL dogs need training.’
- ‘Once you decide which breed you want, you will need to consider the age of the dog.’
variety, stock, strain, line, family
View synonyms
1. 1.1A sort or kind of person or thing.
  ‘a new breed of entrepreneurs was brought into being’
  ‘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.’
  type, kind, sort, variety, class, genre, genus, order, calibre, brand, generation, vintage
  View synonyms

Phrases

a breed apart

A kind of person that is very different from the norm.
‘health-service staff are a breed apart with their dedication to duty’
- ‘Regular callers to these programmes are a breed apart.’
- ‘While the Danes, Swedes and Norwegians are of the same race with similar languages, the Finns are a breed apart.’
- ‘English directors are a breed apart and unlike anything we have in this country.’
- ‘These ghosts are a breed apart from the usual homeless types who inhabit such dwellings.’
- ‘Diplomacy enthusiasts have always been a breed apart from the mainstream of the hobby.’

a dying breed

A kind of person that is slowly disappearing.
‘the country's dying breed of elder statesmen’
- ‘But I wonder if that huggable American tourist is a dying breed.’
- ‘Restaurants like the Shamrock are a dying breed in Vancouver.’
- ‘Windsurfers may be a dying breed in the United States, but the sport is alive and kicking on the Italian Riviera.’
- ‘The pair is part of a dying breed of music partnerships.’
- ‘I know I'm almost the last of a dying breed: one of the few career stage actors left in the world.’
- ‘And you ask why chivalrous men are a dying breed?’
- ‘But I hope they are a dying breed, when it comes to layout anyway.’
- ‘Screen Art is one of the last of a dying breed in that area.’
- ‘The men and women who practice this art and create durable, functional, and practical furniture are among a dying breed.’
- ‘Environmentalists, in the traditional single-issue sense, are a dying breed.’