breed / brēd/ • v. (past and past part. bred / bred/ ) [tr.] cause (an animal) to produce offspring, typically in a controlled and organized way: bitches may not be bred from more than once a year. ∎  [intr.] (of animals) mate and then produce offspring: toads are said to return to the pond of their birth to breed [as adj.] (breeding) the breeding season. ∎  develop (a kind of animal or plant) for a particular purpose or quality: these horses are bred for this sport. ∎  raise (livestock or animals): they live on an island, where they breed Hanoverian horses. ∎  rear and train (someone) to behave in a particular way or have certain qualities: Theresa had been beautifully bred. ∎  cause (something) to happen or occur, typically over a period of time: success breeds confidence.• n. a stock of animals or plants within a species having a distinctive appearance and typically having been developed by deliberate selection. ∎  a sort or kind of person or thing: a new breed of entrepreneurs.PHRASES: a dying breed a sort or kind of person that is slowly disappearing: the country's dying breed of elder statesmen.

breed A domesticated variety of an animal or, rarely, a cultivated variety of plant. Cultivated plants are more often simply called varieties or, more correctly, cultivars. Examples of animal breeds are Friesian cattle and Shetland sheepdogs.

breed vb. OE. brēdan = OHG. bruotan (G. brüten) :- WGmc. *brōdjan, f. *brōd- BROOD.
Hence breed sb. XVI.

Breed

a race or variety of animals; a class, sort, or kind of men, things, or qualities; a number produced at one time. See also brood.

Examples: breed of bees [a brood], 1580; of duckling, 1802; of thinkers; of wits, 1588.

breed An artificial mating group derived (by humans) from a common ancestor, usually for agriculture (e.g. domesticated animals and crop plants), or for genetic analysis, or for pleasure (e.g. cats and dogs).