breed
Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
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English [edit]
Etymology [edit]
Old English bredan, related to English brood, cognate with German brüten.
Alternative forms [edit]
- breede (archaic)
Pronunciation [edit]
- Rhymes: -iːd
Verb [edit]
breed (third-person singular simple present breeds, present participle breeding, simple past and past participle bred)
- To sexually produce offspring.
- Of animals, to mate.
- To keep animals and have them reproduce in a way that improves the next generation’s qualities.
- To arrange the mating of specific animals.
- She wanted to breed her cow to the neighbor's registered bull.
- To propagate or grow plants trying to give them certain qualities.
- He tries to breed blue roses.
- To make sure that one's young grow up to adulthood.
- To yield or result in.
- Disaster breeds famine.
- familiarity breeds contempt.
Derived terms [edit]
Terms derived from breed
Translations [edit]
to sexually produce offspring
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of animals, to mate
to keep animals and have them reproduce
to arrange mating of animals
to propagate or grow plants
to make sure that one's young grow up to adulthood
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Translations to be checked
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Noun [edit]
breed (plural breeds)
- All animals or plants of the same species or subspecies.
- a breed of tulip
- a breed of animal
- A race or lineage.
- (informal) A group of people with shared characteristics.
- People who were taught classical Greek and Latin at school are a dying breed.
Translations [edit]
all animals or plants of the same species or subspecies
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race or lineage
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Anagrams [edit]
Dutch [edit]
Etymology [edit]
From Old Dutch *brēd, from Proto-Germanic *braidaz.
Pronunciation [edit]
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audio (file)
Adjective [edit]
breed (comparative breder, superlative breedst)
Declension [edit]
Declension of breed
