breeding

[bree-ding] /ˈbri dɪŋ/
noun
1.
the producing of offspring.
2.
the improvement or development of breeds of livestock, as by selective mating and hybridization.
3.
Horticulture. the production of new forms by selection, crossing, and hybridizing.
4.
training; nurture:
He is a man of good breeding.
5.
the result of upbringing or training as shown in behavior and manners; manners, especially good manners:
You can tell when a person has breeding.
6.
Energy. the production in a nuclear reactor of more fissile material than is consumed.
Origin
1250-1300; Middle English; see breed, -ing1
Related forms
nonbreeding, adjective, noun

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 breeding
  • It's remarkable what centuries of plant breeding can do.
  • Noisettes also have much of the same musk rose hybrid breeding.
  • The next good quality belonging to a gentleman, is good breeding.
  • It shall serve among wits of no higher breeding than thine.
  • His personal appearance had much to do with this, for he was of royal mould, and had an air of high breeding.
  • To know how to enter a drawing-room is supposed to be one of the supreme tests of good breeding.
  • Thanks to captive breeding, hundreds now live in the wild.
  • But every ounce of breeding plumes represented six dead adults, and each slain pair left behind three to five starving nestlings.
  • The mosquito has adapted to living alongside humans, happily breeding in human houses and water containers.
  • The colony in twilight near the end of the breeding season.
British Dictionary definitions for breeding

breeding

/ˈbriːdɪŋ/
noun
1.
the process of bearing offspring; reproduction
2.
the process of producing plants or animals by sexual reproduction
3.
the result of good training, esp the knowledge of correct social behaviour; refinement: a man of breeding
4.
a person's line of descent: his breeding was suspect
5.
(physics) a process occurring in a nuclear reactor as a result of which more fissionable material is produced than is used up

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 breeding
n.

late 14c., "hatching, incubation;" also "formation, development, growth," verbal noun from breed (v.). Meaning "good manners" is from 1590s.

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.

breeding 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 breeding

breed

see: familiarity breeds contempt