breeds

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of breed.

   Breeders have developed hundreds of distinct dog breeds over the centuries.

   Some chicken breeds lay eggs in unusual shades of blue and green.

   Note

   Each one of the breeds is already a whole group, so the plural counts kinds rather than animals: hundreds of dog breeds means hundreds of varieties, not hundreds of dogs. The same spelling serves the present-tense verb, as in the zoo breeds tigers. Applied to people, the word is informal at best and, as a clipping of half-breed, derogatory. It is safest kept for animals and plants.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of breed.

   The zoo breeds endangered tigers as part of a wider conservation program.

   Standing water breeds mosquitoes within a matter of days.

   Note

   A singular subject takes this form, and the verb works both with and without an object. With an object, it means raising young deliberately (the zoo breeds tigers) or being the place something springs from (standing water breeds mosquitoes). Without one, it simply means to reproduce or mate, as in a pair that breeds each spring. The object tells you which kind of breeding is meant.

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