Library / English Dictionary

BREED

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

Irregular inflected form: bred   

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

A special type

Example:

Google represents a new breed of entrepreneurs

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Hypernyms ("breed" is a kind of...):

type (a subdivision of a particular kind of thing)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A special variety of domesticated animals within a species

Example:

he created a new strain of sheep

Synonyms:

breed; stock; strain

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Hypernyms ("breed" is a kind of...):

animal group (a group of animals)

variety ((biology) a taxonomic category consisting of members of a species that differ from others of the same species in minor but heritable characteristics)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "breed"):

bloodstock (thoroughbred horses (collectively))

pedigree (line of descent of a purebred animal)

Holonyms ("breed" is a member of...):

species ((biology) taxonomic group whose members can interbreed)

Derivation:

breed (have young (animals) or reproduce (organisms))

breed (cause to procreate (animals))

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Have young (animals) or reproduce (organisms)

Example:

pandas rarely breed in captivity

Synonyms:

breed; multiply

Classified under:

Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care

Hypernyms (to "breed" is one way to...):

multiply; procreate; reproduce (have offspring or produce more individuals of a given animal or plant)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "breed"):

pullulate (breed freely and abundantly)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Derivation:

breed (a special variety of domesticated animals within a species)

breeding (the sexual activity of conceiving and bearing offspring)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Cause to procreate (animals)

Example:

She breeds dogs

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "breed" is one way to...):

create; make; produce (create or manufacture a man-made product)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "breed"):

mongrelise; mongrelize (cause to become a mongrel)

cross; crossbreed; hybridise; hybridize; interbreed (breed animals or plants using parents of different races and varieties)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

Derivation:

breed (a special variety of domesticated animals within a species)

breeder (a person who breeds animals)

breeding (the production of animals or plants by inbreeding or hybridization)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Copulate with a female, used especially of horses

Example:

The horse covers the mare

Synonyms:

breed; cover

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "breed" is one way to...):

copulate; couple; mate; pair (engage in sexual intercourse)

Verb group:

brood; cover; hatch; incubate (sit on (eggs))

Domain category:

animal husbandry (breeding and caring for farm animals)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Sense 4

Meaning:

Call forth

Synonyms:

breed; engender; spawn

Classified under:

Verbs of sewing, baking, painting, performing

Hypernyms (to "breed" is one way to...):

cause; do; make (give rise to; cause to happen or occur, not always intentionally)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Credits

 Context examples: 

The results could be used along with breeding strategies to manipulate crop plants for nutritional and taste benefits.

(Is a milder mustard on the way?, National Science Foundation)

As a result, birds in the United States are arriving at their northern breeding grounds earlier in spring — and may be departing later in fall.

(Seasonality of bird migration responds to environmental cues, NSF)

Breeding a more flavorful tomato could benefit consumers as well as the tomato industry.

(Scientists develop genetic path to tastier tomatoes, NSF)

That's why the pigs — specifically those bred to have an overdose of fatty molecules in their arteries — were an important starting point for the current study.

(New Hope for Stopping An Understudied Heart Disease in Its Tracks, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

Back in the lab, the researchers incubated the pathogens Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus epidermidis, which breeds skin infections, with clays from different zones of the Oregon deposit.

(New answer to MRSA, other 'superbug' infections: clay minerals?, NSF)

Understanding how plants make decisions isn’t just interesting, it will help scientists breed new plant varieties that can respond to their increasingly changeable environment with climate change.

(Plants can tell time even without a brain, University of Cambridge)

But recent satellite images show the "colony has declined by 88 percent, from about 500,000 breeding pairs to 60,000 pairs," the study found.

(Study: World's Largest King Penguin Colony Declines Sharply, VOA)

“He is just what a young man ought to be,” said she, “sensible, good-humoured, lively; and I never saw such happy manners!—so much ease, with such perfect good breeding!”

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

“Siamese breed, sir. Now, little elephant!”

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Perrault was a French-Canadian, and swarthy; but François was a French-Canadian half-breed, and twice as swarthy.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)