The meaning of breed is to produce (offspring) by hatching or gestation Promote, occasion, foster, produce, induce, develop How to use breed in a sentence.
A breed is a specific group of breedable domestic animals having homogeneous appearance (phenotype), homogeneous behavior, and/or other characteristics that distinguish it from other organisms of the same species. A breed is also a specific type of a domesticated species, like a poodle or great dane. Idiom a dying breed (definition of breed from the cambridge advanced learner's dictionary & thesaurus © cambridge university press)
To produce young animals, birds, etc To produce offspring by sexual reproduction To produce or reproduce by giving birth or hatching To raise animals or plants, often to produce new or improved types
Breed a new type of corn. If you breed animals or plants, you keep them for the purpose of producing more animals or plants with particular qualities, in a controlled way He lived alone, breeding horses and dogs He used to breed dogs for the police.
See ‘meaning & use’ for definitions, usage, and quotation evidence. To breed is to have babies, whether you’re a human or a hermit crab
