What does breed mean in English?

You can learn breed Pronunciation, Grammar & Synonyms in this most authoritative English Dictionary.

breed Meaning, Definition, Pronunciation, Grammar & Synonyms❤️

0 to keep animals for the purpose of producing young animals in a controlled way:
- Terriers are bred for their fighting instincts.
- His main income comes from breeding cattle.
- The blackbird, like most birds, breeds in the spring.
1 to cause something to happen, usually something bad:
- Favouritism breeds resentment.
2 a particular type of animal or plant:
- a breed of dog/cat/horse/sheep/cattle
- What's your favourite breed of dog/dog breed?
- Arletty was that rare breed of actress - beautiful, sexy and funny.
- A new breed of film-maker has taken over Hollywood.
- Authentic blues singers are a dying breed (= becoming rare) these days.
3 a particular type of animal or plant:
- the different breeds of dogs
- Authentic blues singers are a dying breed (= there are not many of them left).
4 to keep animals or plants for the purpose of producing young animals or plants, often for chosen qualities:
- [ T ] He bred hogs and cows and sold the meat and dairy products.

While the animals are still immature, they do not breed.
The map on the opposite page shows where these birds commonly breed.
She breeds pedigree Burmese cats.
Animals bred in captivity would probably not survive if they were released into the wild.
At this time of year the birds return to the island to breed.
The centre works to protect and preserve rare breeds of European sheep.
There is now a huge variety of dog breeds.
We have several breeds of deer in the park, not just one.