breed

views updated Jun 11 2018

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

views updated May 18 2018

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

views updated Jun 11 2018

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

Breed

views updated May 18 2018

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

views updated Jun 27 2018

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).

breed

views updated Jun 11 2018

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).

breed

views updated Jun 11 2018

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).