/bɹiːd/
OriginInherited from Middle English breden, from Old English brēdan, from Proto-Germanic *brōdijaną (“to brood”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰreh₁- (“warm”). Cognate with Scots brede, breid, Saterland Frisian briede, West Frisian briede, Low German bröden, Dutch broeden, German brüten.
- To produce offspring sexually; to bear young.
“Plant breeding is always a numbers game.[…]The wild species we use are rich in genetic variation, and individual plants are highly heterozygous and do not breed true. In addition, we are looking for r”
- transitiveTo give birth to; to be the native place of.
“A pond breeds fish.”
“A northern country breeds stout men.”
“Yet every mother breeds not sons alike.”
- To mate.
- transitiveTo keep (animals) and have (them) reproduce in a way that improves the next generation's qualities.
- often, transitiveTo arrange the mating of (specific animals).
“She wanted to breed her cow to the neighbor's registered bull.”
- To propagate or grow (plants) in an effort to give (them) certain qualities.
“He tries to breed blue roses.”
- To take care of in infancy and through childhood; to bring up.
“born and bred”
“Ah wretched me! by fates averſe, decreed, / To bring thee forth with pain, with care to breed!”
“born and bred on the verge of the wilderness”
- To yield or result in.
“disaster breeds famine”
“familiarity breeds contempt”
“lest the place / And my queint habits breed astonishment” — Comus
- intransitive, obsoleteTo be formed in the parent or dam; to be generated or to grow, like young before birth.
- sometimesTo educate; to instruct; to bring up.
“No care was taken to breed him a Protestant.”
“His farm may not […] remove his children too far from him, or the trade he breeds them up in.”
- To produce or obtain by any natural process.
“Children would breed their teeth with much less danger.”
- intransitiveTo have birth; to be produced, developed, or multiplied.
“Fair encounter
Of two most rare affections! Heavens rain grace
On that which breed between 'em!”
- All animals or plants of the same species or subspecies.
“a breed of tulip”
“a breed of animal”
- A race or lineage; offspring or issue.
“And nothing 'gainst Time's scythe can make defence
Save breed, to brave him when he takes thee hence.”
- informalA group of people with shared characteristics.
“People who were taught classical Greek and Latin at school are a dying breed.”
- countable, uncountableA surname.
- countable, uncountableA town and unincorporated community therein, in Oconto County, Wisconsin, United States, named after postmaster George M. Breed.
Formsbreeds(present, singular, third-person) · breeding(participle, present) · bred(participle, past) · bred(past) · breede(alternative, archaic) · breeds(plural) · Breeds(plural)