breed Definition

breed
verb bred, breeding

intr
1. Said of animals and plants: to reproduce sexually.

Thesaurus: reproduce, propagate, spawn, procreate.
2. To make (animals or plants) reproduce sexually, sometimes in order to transmit certain selected characteristics from parents to offspring.
3. To make or produce (usually something bad).

Example: Dirt breeds disease
Thesaurus: produce, cause, promote, engender, cultivate, develop, foster.
4. To train, bring up or educate (children, etc).

Thesaurus: nurture, train, raise, discipline.
5. physics.
To produce more fissile fuel that is consumed in a nuclear reaction. See also breeder reactor.

noun

1. An artificially maintained subdivision within an animal species, especially farm livestock or pet animals, produced by domestication and selective breeding, eg Friesian cattle.
2. A race or lineage.
3. A kind or type.

Example: a new breed of salesman
Thesaurus: variety, kind, class, ilk, family, lineage, race, species, stock, strain, type.

Derivative: breeder

Someone or something that breeds, especially a person who breeds animals or plants for a living.

Short for breeder reactor.

Etymology: Anglo-Saxon bredan to produce, hatch or cherish offspring.