sire

noun

Save Word

\ ˈsī(-ə)r

Definition of sire

(Entry 1 of 2)

1a : father

b archaic : male ancestor : forefather

c : author, originator

2a archaic : a man of rank or authority especially : lord —used formerly as a form of address and as a title

b obsolete : an elderly man : senior

3 : the male parent of an animal and especially of a domestic animal

sire

verb

sired; siring

Definition of sire (Entry 2 of 2)

transitive verb

1 : beget —used especially of male domestic animals

2 : to bring into being : originate

Synonyms Example Sentences Learn More about sire

Keep scrolling for more

Synonyms for sire

Synonyms: Noun

dad,
daddy,
father,
old man,
pa,
papa
(also poppa),
pater
[chiefly British],
pop

Synonyms: Verb

Examples of sire in a Sentence

Noun his sire had been a renowned Wall Street lawyer the revered sire of the impressionist movement in art Verb The horse sired several champion racers. the champion racehorse went on to sire a long line of winners

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun The Kentucky Derby Sire Future Wager also will return and allows bettors to wager on the winning sire for next year’s Derby. — Jason Frakes, The Courier-Journal, "Fans allowed to attend Churchill Downs' Fall Meet that opens Sunday," 23 Oct. 2020 Mandaloun’s sire is Into Mischief, whose son Authentic won the 2020 Kentucky Derby, one of trainer Bob Baffert’s record-tying six Kentucky Derby victories. — John Cherwa, Los Angeles Times, "Horse racing newsletter: Jon White previews the Lecomte," 15 Jan. 2021 The field is headed by The Best Feeling, who gave his sire, Docs Best Card, his first ever stakes winner in the $60,000 Far West Futurity on Nov. 9. — John Cherwa, Los Angeles Times, "Horse racing newsletter: Santa Anita ready for signature season," 26 Dec. 2020 Star Guitar is now a successful sire and has a Fair Grounds bar named after him as well as stakes race that will run later in the meet. — Michael Beychok, NOLA.com, "Check out Chok's Choices for Saturday's Fair Grounds races; all races feature Louisiana-bred horses," 11 Dec. 2020 Sire is American Pharoah, a Triple Crown Winner and great turf sire. — Michael Beychok, NOLA.com, "Check out Chok's Choices for Thursday's Fair Grounds races," 16 Dec. 2020 Into Mischief, his sire, who can breed to around 200 mares a year, has a fee of $225,000. — John Cherwa, Los Angeles Times, "Kentucky Derby and Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Authentic retires from racing," 9 Nov. 2020 Bad luck for a potential hometown champion, but the scratch immediately set up Art Collector as a fresh challenger for the Preakness (a race his sire, Bernardini, won in 2006). — Childs Walker, baltimoresun.com, "Preakness storylines: Can Derby champ Authentic assert himself as nation’s top 3-year-old?," 26 Sep. 2020 Still, that's pretty lame, especially when Major Fed's sire has one of the coolest horse names of all time: Ghostzapper. — Jeva Lange, TheWeek, "2020 Kentucky Derby horse names, ranked," 5 Sep. 2020 Recent Examples on the Web: Verb The alpha sire leads from the rear and actively keeps the herd moving at the necessary pace. — Rodger Dean Duncan, Forbes, "How Covid Is Teaching (Some) Leaders How To Lead," 2 Mar. 2021 Global Empire: Sired by American Pharoah who is a prolific turf sire early on. — Michael Beychok, NOLA.com, "Check out Chok's Choices for Saturday's Fair Grounds races," 15 Jan. 2021 Rene-Wasatch Renegade, sire of two field champions was a Labrador retriever, and things that splashed were things to fetch. — Bill Tarrant, Field & Stream, "F&S Classics: And I Do Not Walk Alone," 25 Nov. 2020 Vequist’s name is a combination of the dam, Vero Amore, and sire, Nyquist. — Jason Frakes, The Courier-Journal, "Breeders' Cup roundup: Vequist rallies to win Juvenile Fillies; is Kentucky Oaks next?," 6 Nov. 2020 If all goes well, conservationists hope that Kurt will sire a healthy line of offspring that could one day be returned to the wild. — Rasha Aridi, Smithsonian Magazine, "Scientists Cloned an Endangered Wild Horse Using the Decades-Old Frozen Cells of a Stallion," 15 Oct. 2020 His post-racing highlight was siring a Venezuelan horse of the year before dying at age 11. — Dan Wolken, USA TODAY, "Unlike many Belmont Stakes winners, this year's will be remembered forever," 21 May 2020 Along with his companion, Sanura, Themba sired three offspring in 2011, two males and one female. — Kathy Flanigan, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "The Milwaukee County Zoo announced that Themba, an African lion, has died," 8 May 2020 Cincinnati: The city’s zoo has welcomed a new baby giraffe shortly after losing the 12-year-old male giraffe that sired him. — USA TODAY, "A subway Thanksgiving, too-high horse, gift wrap wars: News from around our 50 states," 27 Nov. 2019

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