breeding ground

Definition of breeding ground

1 : the place to which animals go to breed

2 : a place or set of circumstances suitable for or favorable to growth and development hurricane breeding grounds

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Examples of breeding ground in a Sentence

a breeding ground for seals The Gulf of Mexico is a breeding ground for hurricanes. The company's casual atmosphere serves as a breeding ground for innovation.

Recent Examples on the Web Its state university system and preeminence in research — along with private Stanford University — have been influential in building Silicon Valley, headquarters for Google and Apple and the breeding ground for many startups. — Shelly Hagan, BostonGlobe.com, "Mass., Calif. ranked as most innovative states," 23 June 2020 Prisons are a coronavirus breeding ground, according to experts. — Molly Beck, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "268 inmates in Wisconsin prisons tested positive for coronavirus. Nearly all have recovered.," 22 June 2020 The office building, located in the North Korean border town of Kaesong, was erected just two years ago, in 2018, to serve as a breeding ground for diplomacy between the two countries. — Jay Cannon, USA TODAY, "North Korea releases photos showing explosion of liaison office jointly run with South Korea," 17 June 2020 The Sahel was a breeding ground for radical Islamic groups, including AQIM, which launched attacks and kidnappings in nearby Algeria, and in recent years has begun spreading terrorism into the wealthier countries of West Africa. — Abraham Mahshie, Washington Examiner, "French killing of top al Qaeda terrorist shows vital role of US intelligence in Africa," 16 June 2020 Movie theaters might seem like a Covid-19 breeding ground: audiences crammed into confined spaces, climbing over each other to get to their seats, unwashed hands probing self-service food stations. — Adam Epstein, Quartz, "Under the right conditions, going back to the movies might not be as dangerous as you think," 1 June 2020 The precautions were taken, of course, so this funeral wouldn't unwittingly become a breeding ground in the pandemic that already had claimed more than 100,000 lives in the United States alone. — Julia Jones And Anna-maja Rappard, CNN, "A drive-by wake. A masked funeral. A memorial on Zoom. This is how families are facing death in the pandemic," 1 June 2020 The analysis found that ICE has repeatedly failed to follow rules meant to contain communicable diseases inside its detention centers, which can become breeding grounds for illness. — J. David Mcswane, ProPublica, "ICE Has Repeatedly Failed to Contain Contagious Diseases, Our Analysis Shows. It’s a Danger to the Public.," 20 Mar. 2020 The epidemic increased in May and June, with the uptick credited to unprecedented floods which eventually left stagnant puddles which are prime mosquito breeding grounds. — Dawn Mitchell, Indianapolis Star, "How Indiana has fought back against past disease outbreaks," 16 Mar. 2020

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

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Dictionary Entries near breeding ground

breeding ground

breeding/mating season

breeding paralysis

breeding plumage

Statistics for breeding ground

Last Updated

28 Jun 2020

Cite this Entry

“Breeding ground.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/breeding%20ground. Accessed 13 Jul. 2020.

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