breeding

noun breed·ing

Updated on: 12 Apr 2018

Definition of breeding

1 : the action or process of bearing or generating

2 : ancestry

3 a archaic : education

she had her breeding at my father's charge
—William Shakespeare

b : training in or observance of the proprieties

4 : the sexual propagation of plants or animals

See breeding defined for English-language learners

See breeding defined for kids

Examples of breeding in a Sentence

She became involved in the breeding of sled dogs.
His politeness shows good breeding.
a person who lacks breeding

Recent Examples of breeding from the Web

Upstate gets $600 million for a new public health lab; $62.5 million for the 1980 Winter Olympic Games facilities; $30 million for a Photonics Attraction Fund; and $2 million for an industrial hemp seed certification and breeding program.

— the editorial board, WSJ, "Cuomo’s de Blasio Budget," 5 Apr. 2018
Over 200 panda babies have successfully been born and raised in Chengu's captive breeding program.

— susan king, latimes.com, "Imax's 'Pandas' tracks China's efforts to release pandas back in to the wild," 2 Apr. 2018
Sixteen years later, government wildlife managers have slowed the pronghorn's decline, increasing its numbers through captive breeding programs and, in some areas, willing water into the ground.

— alex devoid, azcentral, "Back from the brink, the Sonoran pronghorn now roam an increasingly political landscape," 27 Mar. 2018
Wolfdogs are hybrids resulting from the breeding of a domestic dog with one of five other Canis sub-species, according to the International Wolf Center: the gray, the eastern timber, red, ethiopian or arctic wolves.

— matthew martinez, star-telegram, "‘Blood in the bassinet’: Virginia family’s wolf-hybrid kills their 8-day-old infant | Fort Worth Star-Telegram," 10 Mar. 2018
The asexual breeding is what has driven the species' growth, crowding out native crawfish.

— todd a. price, NOLA.com, "Mutant female crawfish invade Europe: report," 6 Feb. 2018
Fermi’s reactor would also demonstrate the breeding of plutonium.

— richard rhodes, New York Times, "A Remarkable Man Among Remarkable Men and Women," 24 Jan. 2018
The planned breeding program at the Litchfield Park zoo will take a while to get going.

— victor ren, azcentral, "Wildlife World Zoo plans breeding program to help Southern White Rhinos survive," 20 Mar. 2018
Several cultivars have been released from the LSU AgCenter breeding program during the last 10 years, including Evangeline (gaining in commercial planting), Orleans, Bayou Belle, Bellevue, Bonita and Murasaki-29.

— dan gill, NOLA.com, "What is the difference between sweet potatoes and yams?," 17 Mar. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'breeding.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

First Known Use of breeding

14th century

in the meaning defined at sense 1

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breeding Synonyms

BREEDING Defined for English Language Learners

breeding

noun

Definition of breeding for English Language Learners

: the process by which young animals, birds, etc., are produced by their parents
: the activity of keeping and caring for animals or plants in order to produce more animals or plants of a particular kind
: the way a person was taught in childhood to behave : good manners that come from being raised correctly