breeding

1. 1
   noununcountable

   The production of new offspring by living things through sexual reproduction.

   The breeding of livestock improved steadily as farmers learned more.

   Conservationists rely on captive breeding to rebuild wild populations.

   Similarreproduction, procreation, propagation, rearing

   Note

   The core biological sense, and an old one: Middle English breedyng already covered gestation, incubation, hatching and propagation. It applies to plants as readily as to animals. Plant breeders speak of lines that do or do not "breed true," meaning offspring that match their parents. Ecologists treat the breeding period, along with larval development, as one of the most sensitive stages of a life cycle.

2. 2
   verb

   Present participle of breed.

   The zoo is breeding condors to release them into the wild.

   Farmers have been breeding cattle for hardiness for generations.

   Note

   The verb form for producing young or improving stock as ongoing work: the zoo is breeding condors. It shares its ancestry with the adjective rather than with the Middle English nouns. With a direct object such as dogs, cattle or plants, it usually means arranging matings, or propagating plants, so that the next generation gains chosen qualities.

3. 3
   adjective

   Of, relating to, or used for the production of offspring.

   The aquarium set up a separate breeding tank for the seahorses.

   Wildlife officials monitored the breeding grounds throughout spring.

   Similarreproductive, mating

   Note

   The adjective comes by a separate route from the nouns: Old English *brēdende, a present participle of the Germanic verb "to brood; breed." Its most familiar use is breeding ground, which stretches from nesting sites to anything that fosters growth, as in "a toothbrush is a breeding ground for bacteria." It is not comparable. A tank is a breeding tank or it is not, never "more breeding."

4. 4
   noununcountable

   The polished manners regarded as characteristic of the aristocracy and passed down through family.

   His impeccable breeding was evident throughout the formal dinner.

   She carried herself with the quiet breeding of an old family.

   Similarrefinement, gentility, polish, manners, cultivation

   Oppositevulgarity, coarseness

5. 5
   noununcountable

   The act of mating, or copulation, between animals of the same kind.

   Breeding among the herd peaked during the cooler months.

   The mare was brought to the stallion for breeding.

   Similarmating, copulation, coupling

6. 6
   noununcountable

   The act of insemination, accomplished either by natural mating or by artificial means.

   Modern dairy operations rely heavily on artificial breeding.

   The breeding of the prize mare was scheduled for late spring.

   Similarinsemination, mating, covering

7. 7
   noununcountable

   The line of descent or pedigree from which a person or animal comes.

   The colt's breeding traced back to several champion racehorses.

   Buyers paid a premium for sheep of proven breeding.

   Similarpedigree, lineage, ancestry, bloodline, stock

   Note

   Lineage is the point here, and the word serves dogs and gentlemen alike. "Your dog has good breeding" is pedigree talk. In Shakespeare's The Second Part of Henry the Fourth, "Honest gentlemen, I know not your breeding" asks who someone's people are. In this sense, good breeding describes ancestry, not conduct, and a dog of fine breeding may still have no manners at all.

8. 8
   noununcountable

   The nurture and education through which a person's manners are formed.

   His breeding had instilled an instinctive courtesy toward strangers.

   She credited her breeding for her ease in awkward social moments.

   Similarupbringing, rearing, nurture, education, training

   Note

   Here the word means upbringing rather than blood. In Shakespeare's All's Well That Ends Well, "She had her breeding at my father's charge" means that her rearing and schooling were paid for by his house. Compare the aristocratic sense, where manners are thought to be inherited; in this sense they are made. Older prose often blurs the two, so context decides whether breeding means what a family gave or what it passed down.

9. 9
   nounslanguncountable

   The act of ejaculating inside the rectum during bareback anal sex.

   He sought out partners who were open to breeding.

   The clinic counsels patients about the health risks of breeding.

   Note

   A piece of gay sexual slang that borrows the language of animal mating to describe condomless anal sex. It is explicit, and it belongs in frank talk among gay men and in sexual-health discussion, not in general use. The livestock senses are far more common, so the meaning depends entirely on context. In neutral writing, a plain clinical description avoids misunderstanding.

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