Synonyms of breeding

breeding 1 of 2

noun

ˈbrē-diŋ 

as in lineage

the line of ancestors from whom a person is descended

a family of good breeding that is well respected in the community

Synonyms & Similar Words

• lineage
• ancestry
• pedigree
• origin
• genealogy
• family
• extraction
• descent
• parentage
• birth
• blood
• stock
• strain
• bloodline
• family tree
• line
• succession
• heredity
• relations
• house
• race
• relatives
• kin
• kindred

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• seed
• progeny
• issue
• offspring
• posterity
• child
• son
• heir
• successor
• inheritor

breeding

2 of 2

verb

present participle of breed

1

as in reproducing

to bring forth offspring

rabbits will breed very frequently unless they're kept separated

Synonyms & Similar Words

• reproducing
• propagating
• multiplying
• producing
• procreating
• spawning
• hatching
• generating
• parenting
• having
• siring
• begetting
• mothering
• getting
• engendering
• gendering
• bearing

2

as in raising

to bring to maturity through care and education

he was bred to a life in the military by his father, himself an army captain

Synonyms & Similar Words

• raising
• fostering
• rearing
• nurturing
• teaching
• feeding
• promoting
• nursing
• watching
• cultivating
• educating
• bringing up
• nourishing
• training
• attending
• fathering
• mothering
• schooling
• supplying
• disciplining
• ministering (to)
• instructing
• providing (for)
• furthering
• leading
• mentoring
• preparing
• guiding
• caring (for)
• forwarding
• cradling
• enlightening
• showing
• advancing
• tutoring
• indoctrinating
• minding
• directing
• shepherding
• edifying

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• mistreating
• abusing
• ignoring
• maltreating
• mishandling
• neglecting
• ill-treating
• ill-using
• harming
• injuring
• hurting

3

as in creating

to be the cause of (a situation, action, or state of mind)

this habit of favoring one employee over the others will breed resentment

Synonyms & Similar Words

• creating
• causing
• bringing
• spawning
• generating
• producing
• doing
• prompting
• working
• yielding
• inducing
• making
• effecting
• invoking
• bringing about
• translating (into)
• drawing on
• resulting (in)
• begetting
• giving rise to
• engendering
• promoting
• catalyzing
• effectuating
• introducing
• bringing forth
• bringing on
• occasioning
• encouraging
• establishing
• contributing (to)
• developing
• fostering
• initiating
• founding
• determining
• launching
• pioneering
• cultivating
• beginning
• inaugurating
• starting
• deciding
• instituting
• furthering
• nurturing
• rendering
• advancing
• forwarding
• conducing (to)
• enacting
• fathering
• setting
• setting up
• innovating
• turning out
• nourishing

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• limiting
• restricting
• impeding
• controlling
• crushing
• suppressing
• checking
• stifling
• repressing
• smothering
• restraining
• inhibiting
• subduing
• curbing
• retarding
• killing
• quashing
• putting down
• dampening
• arresting
• quelling
• destroying
• squashing
• squelching
• abolishing
• canning
• extinguishing
• cracking down (on)
• liquidating
• clamping down (on)
• quenching
• demolishing
• reining (in)
• stilling
• snuffing (out)

4

as in sleeping

to engage in sexual intercourse

cats breeding outside our window made a horrible racket last night

Synonyms & Similar Words

• sleeping
• mating
• doing it
• having sex
• copulating
• fornicating
• fooling around

5

as in planting

to set permanently in the consciousness or mind-set

parents who breed in their children a deep respect for people of all classes

Synonyms & Similar Words

• planting
• implanting
• inseminating
• rooting
• embedding
• sowing
• lodging
• inculcating
• instilling
• driving
• infixing
• enrooting
• investing
• pounding
• hammering
• inoculating
• entrenching
• infusing
• imbuing
• fixing
• steeping
• suffusing
• ingraining

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of breeding

Noun

That’s why the researchers say the tool could be useful for rescuing endangered species with a few individuals left—scientists could create fertile breeding pairs using just one male donor. — Gennaro Tomma, Scientific American, 13 Oct. 2026

Together, these breeding methods have helped Holsteins maintain and improve the high milk production for which they are valued. — Encyclopedia Britannica, 7 Oct. 2026

Verb

The William & Mary biologist followed their recovery from the DDT era as the bay became home to the world’s largest breeding population of ospreys. — Mark Robichaux, Washington Post, 27 Sep. 2026

In September, the Arizona Game and Fish Department released 18 ferrets in northern Arizona, part of a captive-breeding species recovery program now in its 35th year. — Shi En Kim, AZCentral.com, 21 Sep. 2026

Phrases Containing breeding

• breeding ground