verb
simple past tense and past participle of breed.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
verb (used with object)
1.
to produce (offspring); procreate; engender.
2.
to produce by mating; propagate sexually; reproduce: Ten mice were bred in the laboratory.
3.
Horticulture.
a.
to cause to reproduce by controlled pollination.
b.
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.
verb (used without object)
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.
Origin:
before 1000; Middle English breden, Old English brēdan to nourish (cognate with Old High German bruotan, German brüten); noun use from 16th century
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
breed·a·ble, adjective
o·ver·breed, verb (used with object), o·ver·bred, o·ver·breed·ing.
re·breed, verb, re·bred, re·breed·ing.
sub·breed, noun
Synonyms
1, 2. beget, bear, generate. 5. promote, occasion, foster, produce, induce, develop. 14. family, pedigree, line.
1, 2. beget, bear, generate. 5. promote, occasion, foster, produce, induce, develop. 14. family, pedigree, line.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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|
Link To bred
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Bred
is one of our favorite verbs.
So is fletcherise. Does it mean:
| chat, to converse |
| to chew (food) slowly and thoroughly. |
Collins
World English Dictionary
bred (brɛd) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —vb | |
| 1. | the past tense and past participle of breed |
| —n | |
| 2. | derogatory, slang (Austral) a person who lives in a small remote place |
| [sense 2: diminutive form of inbred] | |
| breed (briːd) | |
| —vb , breeds, breeding, bred | |
| 1. | to bear (offspring) |
| 2. | (tr) 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 |
| —n | |
| 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 |
| [Old English brēdan, of Germanic origin; related to | |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History
breed
O.E. bredan "bring young to birth, carry," also "cherish, keep warm," from W.Gmc. *brodjan (cf. O.H.G. bruoten, Ger. brüten "to brood, hatch"), from *brod- "fetus, hatchling," from PIE *bhreue- "burn, heat" (see brood). Original notion of the word was incubation, warming
to hatch. Breeding "good manners" is from 1590s.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
Science Dictionary
breed  (brēd) Pronunciation Key
Verb
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. |
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
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Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
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American Heritage
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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Example sentences
Some were bred in highly controlled research environments.
To find this link, researchers compared normal lab mice to those bred to have dysfunctional sleep-wake cycles.
Only a handful of animal species have been successfully bred to get along with humans-but that hasn't kept us from trying.
But the breakdown of the old categories has bred confusion.
Idioms & Phrases
Nearby Words
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