BREED (bred)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

Irregular inflected form: bred   

 Dictionary entry overview: What does breed mean? 

• BREED (noun)
  The noun BREED has 2 senses:

1. a special variety of domesticated animals within a species

2. a special type

  Familiarity information: BREED used as a noun is rare.

• BREED (verb)
  The verb BREED has 4 senses:

1. call forth

2. copulate with a female, used especially of horses

3. cause to procreate (animals)

4. have young (animals) or reproduce (organisms)

  Familiarity information: BREED used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• BREED (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A special variety of domesticated animals within a species

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Synonyms:

breed; stock; strain

Context example:

he created a new strain of sheep

Hypernyms ("breed" is a kind of...):

animal group (a group of animals)

variety ((biology) a taxonomic category consisting of members of a species that differ from others of the same species in minor but heritable characteristics)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "breed"):

bloodstock (thoroughbred horses (collectively))

pedigree (line of descent of a purebred animal)

Holonyms ("breed" is a member of...):

species ((biology) taxonomic group whose members can interbreed)

Derivation:

breed (have young (animals) or reproduce (organisms))

breed (cause to procreate (animals))

Sense 2

Meaning:

A special type

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Context example:

Google represents a new breed of entrepreneurs

Hypernyms ("breed" is a kind of...):

type (a subdivision of a particular kind of thing)

• BREED (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they breed    ... he / she / it breeds   
Past simple: bred   
Past participle: bred   
-ing form: breeding   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Call forth

Classified under:

Verbs of sewing, baking, painting, performing

Synonyms:

breed; engender; spawn

Hypernyms (to "breed" is one way to...):

cause; do; make (give rise to; cause to happen or occur, not always intentionally)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Sense 2

Meaning:

Copulate with a female, used especially of horses

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

breed; cover

Context example:

The horse covers the mare

Hypernyms (to "breed" is one way to...):

copulate; couple; mate; pair (engage in sexual intercourse)

Verb group:

brood; cover; hatch; incubate (sit on (eggs))

Domain category:

animal husbandry (breeding and caring for farm animals)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Sense 3

Meaning:

Cause to procreate (animals)

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Context example:

She breeds dogs

Hypernyms (to "breed" is one way to...):

create; make; produce (create or manufacture a man-made product)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "breed"):

mongrelise; mongrelize (cause to become a mongrel)

cross; crossbreed; hybridise; hybridize; interbreed (breed animals or plants using parents of different races and varieties)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

Derivation:

breed (a special variety of domesticated animals within a species)

breeder (a person who breeds animals)

breeding (the production of animals or plants by inbreeding or hybridization)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Have young (animals) or reproduce (organisms)

Classified under:

Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care

Synonyms:

breed; multiply

Context example:

pandas rarely breed in captivity

Hypernyms (to "breed" is one way to...):

multiply; procreate; reproduce (have offspring or produce more individuals of a given animal or plant)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "breed"):

pullulate (breed freely and abundantly)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Derivation:

breed (a special variety of domesticated animals within a species)

breeding (the sexual activity of conceiving and bearing offspring)

 Context examples 

Since my last return I find the breed is considerably increased, especially the sheep, which I hope will prove much to the advantage of the woollen manufacture, by the fineness of the fleeces.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

Summertime provides the perfect occasion for insect breeding, but we must continue to fight them all year round.

(Aedes mosquitoes almost impossible to eradicate, says Brazilian researcher, Agência Brasil)

Poor quality, densely populated housing and inadequate sanitation systems may foster sandfly breeding sites and increase their access to humans.

(Study uncovers cause of aggressive leishmaniasis strain, SciDev.Net)

But the breed of sailors seemed to have changed since the days he had lived in the forecastle.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

You’ll never pass as a pure-bred civilian as long as you keep that habit of carrying your handkerchief in your sleeve.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

There was something heroic about this gently-bred woman enduring our terrible hardship and with her pittance of strength bending to the tasks of a peasant woman.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

The dog's mine. I bred 'm an' raised 'm, an' I guess I ought to know. Look here. I'll prove it to you. Skiff Miller turned to the dog.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

“Well, then, you’ve lost your fiver, for it’s town bred,” snapped the salesman.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Such an approach has the potential to significantly reduce breeding time compared to traditional methods.

(Harnessing tomato jumping genes could help speed-breed drought-resistant crops, University of Cambridge)

This is because meerkat underlings are forced to take the often-fatal risk of leaving the safety of the group to find breeding opportunities, say scientists.

(Breeder meerkats age faster, but their subordinates still die younger, University of Cambridge)