Link Centre Dictionary

breed

UK/ˈbɹiːd/ US/ˈbɹʷɪi̯d/ fairly common informal slang
noun (4) verb (4)

noun

1.

a special lineage

  • “a breed of Americans”
2.

a special variety of domesticated animals within a species

  • “he experimented on a particular breed of white rats”
  • “he created a new strain of sheep”
Synonyms
3.

half-caste offspring of parents of different races (especially of white and American Indian parents)

Synonyms
4.

a lineage or race of people

Synonyms

verb

1.
2.

copulate with a female, used especially of horses

  • “The horse covers the mare”
Synonyms
3.

of plants or animals

  • “She breeds dogs”
4.

have young (animals)

  • “pandas rarely breed in captivity”
Synonyms

Origin

Inherited from Middle English breden, from Old English brēdan, from Proto-Germanic *brōdijaną (“to brood”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰreh₁- (“warm”). Cognate with Scots brede, breid, Saterland Frisian briede, West Frisian briede, Low German bröden, Dutch broeden, German brüten.

Phrases

  • a breed apart
  • best of breed
  • breed in and in
  • breed in the bone
  • breed like rabbits
  • breed true
  • breed up
  • different breed of cat
  • dying breed

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

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Parts

Related verbs

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.