breed ‧ ing /ˈbriːdɪŋ/ BrE AmE noun [uncountable]
1 . when animals produce babies:
Open-sea fish lay several million eggs each breeding season.
2 . the activity of keeping animals or plants in order to produce animals or plants that have particular qualities:
the breeding of pedigree dogs
Benson took great care in selecting breeding stock (=animals you keep to breed from) .
3 . the fact of coming from a family of high rank and having polite social behaviour:
The young lieutenant had an air of wealth and good breeding.