bred

[bred] /brɛd/
verb
1.
simple past tense and past participle of breed.
Can be confused
bread, bred.

breed

[breed] /brid/
verb (used with object), bred, breeding.
1.
to produce (offspring); procreate; engender.
2.
to produce by mating; propagate sexually; reproduce:
Ten mice were bred in the laboratory.
3.
Horticulture.
  1. to cause to reproduce by controlled pollination.
  2. to improve by controlled pollination and selection.
4.
to raise (cattle, sheep, etc.):
He breeds longhorns on the ranch.
5.
to cause or be the source of; engender; give rise to:
Dirt breeds disease. Stagnant water breeds mosquitoes.
6.
to develop by training or education; bring up; rear:
He was born and bred a gentleman.
7.
Energy. to produce more fissile nuclear fuel than is consumed in a reactor.
8.
to impregnate; mate:
Breed a strong mare with a fast stallion and hope for a Derby winner.
verb (used without object), bred, breeding.
9.
to produce offspring:
Many animals breed in the spring.
10.
to be engendered or produced; grow; develop:
Bacteria will not breed in alcohol.
11.
to cause the birth of young, as in raising stock.
12.
to be pregnant.
noun
13.
Genetics. a relatively homogenous group of animals within a species, developed and maintained by humans.
14.
lineage; stock; strain:
She comes from a fine breed of people.
15.
sort; kind; group:
Scholars are a quiet breed.
16.
Disparaging and Offensive. half-breed (def 2).
Origin
before 1000; Middle English breden, Old English brēdan to nourish (cognate with Old High German bruotan, German brüten); noun use from 16th century
Related forms
breedable, adjective
overbreed, verb (used with object), overbred, overbreeding.
rebreed, verb, rebred, rebreeding.
subbreed, noun
Synonyms
1, 2. beget, bear, generate. 5. promote, occasion, foster, produce, induce, develop. 14. family, pedigree, line.
Examples from the web for bred
  • Humans have bred dogs to produce tremendous variety.
  • Only a handful of wild animal species have been successfully bred to get along with humans.
  • Through genetic engineering, scientists have bred a mouse capable of running twice as far as other mice before exhaustion.
  • House cats bred to resemble toy tigers are the latest feline fancy.
  • Only a handful of animal species have been successfully bred to get along with humans-but that hasn't kept us from trying.
  • Mink for dissection are purpose bred and were not collected from wild populations.
  • My dogs are specially bred for incontinence, copious shedding, and body odor.
  • In time, the power of authors birthed the idea of authority and bred a culture of expertise.
  • In fact, its thesis was that the discrediting of old ideologies had bred a hunger for new ones.
  • Hybrids have been bred for early ripening, high yield, and/or disease resistance.
British Dictionary definitions for bred

bred

/brɛd/
verb
1.
the past tense and past participle of breed
noun
2.
(Austral, derogatory, slang) a person who lives in a small remote place
Word Origin
sense 2: diminutive form of inbred

breed

/briːd/
verb breeds, breeding, bred
1.
to bear (offspring)
2.
(transitive) to bring up; raise
3.
to produce or cause to produce by mating; propagate
4.
to produce and maintain new or improved strains of (domestic animals and plants)
5.
to produce or be produced; generate: to breed trouble, violence breeds in densely populated areas
noun
6.
a group of organisms within a species, esp a group of domestic animals, originated and maintained by man and having a clearly defined set of characteristics
7.
a lineage or race: a breed of Europeans
8.
a kind, sort, or group: a special breed of hatred
Word Origin
Old English brēdan, of Germanic origin; related to brood
Word Origin and History for bred

past tense and past participle of breed (v.).

breed

v.

Old English bredan "bring young to birth, carry," also "cherish, keep warm," from West Germanic *brodjan (cf. Old High German bruoten, German brüten "to brood, hatch"), from *brod- "fetus, hatchling," from PIE *bhreue- "burn, heat" (see brood (n.)). Original notion of the word was incubation, warming to hatch. Sense of "grow up, be reared" (in a clan, etc.) is late 14c. Related: Bred; breeding.

n.

"race, lineage, stock" (originally of animals), 1550s, from breed (v.). Of persons, from 1590s. Meaning "kind, species" is from 1580s.

bred in Science
breed
  (brēd)   
Verb  

  1. To produce or reproduce by giving birth or hatching.

  2. To raise animals or plants, often to produce new or improved types.


Noun  A group of organisms having common ancestors and sharing certain traits that are not shared with other members of the same species. Breeds are usually produced by mating selected parents.
Idioms and Phrases with bred

bred

see: born and bred also see under: breed

breed

see: familiarity breeds contempt