I. ˈbrēd verb
( bred ˈbred ; bred ; breeding ; breeds )
Etymology: Middle English breden, from Old English brēdan; akin to Old High German bruoten to brood; denominative from the root of Old English brōd brood — more at brood
transitive verb
1. : to produce (offspring) by hatching or gestation : give birth to
yet every mother breeds not sons alike — Shakespeare
2.
a. : beget 2
b. : to cause to come into being : produce , engender
every scholarly discipline breeds its own jargon — Times Literary Supplement
extended wars always breed depression — F.A.Bradford
3. : to be the native place of
a pond breeds fish
a northern country breeds stout men
: provide conditions conducive to development of
liberty in all its wildness bred iron conscience — Van Wyck Brooks
4. : to propagate sexually:
a. : to propagate (plants) by artificial pollination
b. : to improve (a stock) by controlled propagation — compare breeding 5
c. : to develop (desired qualities or characteristics) by breeding
chicks with high production bred into them — L.E.Card
5.
a. : to develop by tradition or education : bring up : nurture , train
no care was taken to breed him a Protestant — Gilbert Burnet
— often used with in or to
he was bred in the tradition of liberalism — Max Whatman
ships commanded by men who had not been bred to the sea
b. : to inculcate (a quality) by training
good manners were bred into them
6.
a. : to mate or mate with : inseminate
this cow was bred on the 7th, 27th, and 17th, but failed to settle
a good mature ram may breed 60 ewes in a season
b. : impregnate
cats normally have their kittens 63 days after being bred
7. : to produce a fissionable element (as plutonium) from a nonfissionable element (as uranium 238) by bombardment with neutrons from a radioactive element so that more fissionable material is produced than is used up
intransitive verb
1. : to produce offspring by sexual union : reproduce its kind
that they may breed abundantly on the earth — Gen 8:17 (Revised Standard Version)
breed true
: multiply
2. : to be pregnant
3. : to propagate animals or plants
II. noun
( -s )
1. : a group of animals or plants presumably related by descent from common ancestors and visibly similar in most characters:
a. : a distinctive group of domestic animals differentiated from the wild type under the influence of man and usually incapable of maintaining its distinctive qualities in nature, being usually the sum of the progeny of a known and designated foundation stock without admixture of other blood
b. : a similarly distinctive group of plants — compare horticultural variety
2. : a number of persons of the same line of descent or of the same racial stock
twice fifteen thousand hearts of England's breed — Shakespeare
3. : a group of persons or things distinguished by similar characteristics, interests, or qualities : class , kind , sort
the undergraduate breed — J.C.Ransom
the new breed of scientific salesmen — Time
horse lovers, a breed of folk not yet extinct — H.I.Brock
a new breed of ship — Carter Henderson
4. dialect Britain : a litter of young : brood
5. chiefly West : the offspring of a white parent and an Indian parent : half-breed
6. : a distinctively delicate taste discernible in some wines
Synonyms: see variety