breed
verb/briːd/
/briːd/
Verb Forms
Idioms | present simple I / you / we / they breed | /briːd/ /briːd/ |
| he / she / it breeds | /briːdz/ /briːdz/ |
| past simple bred | /bred/ /bred/ |
| past participle bred | /bred/ /bred/ |
| -ing form breeding | /ˈbriːdɪŋ/ /ˈbriːdɪŋ/ |
- [intransitive] (of animals) to have sex and produce young
- Many animals breed only at certain times of the year.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb- in captivity
- successfully
- commercially
- …
- for
- [transitive, intransitive] to keep animals or plants in order to produce young ones for a particular purpose
- breed something (for/as something) The rabbits are bred for their long coats.
- Greyhounds were originally bred as hunting dogs.
- the first panda to be bred in captivity
- breed from something She's a lovely cat. Will you breed from her?
Collocations FarmingFarmingGrowing food and raising animalssee also cross-breed, pure-bred, thoroughbred- plant trees/seeds/crops/vines/barley
- grow/produce corn/wheat/rice/fruit
- plough/(North American English) plow land/a field
- sow/harvest seeds/crops/fields
- spread manure/fertilizer on something
- cultivate/irrigate/water/contaminate crops/plants/fields/land
- damage/destroy/lose your crop
- ripen/pick fruit/berries/grapes
- press/dry/ferment grapes
- grind/thresh grain/corn/wheat
- raise/rear/keep chickens/poultry/cattle/pigs
- raise/breed/feed/graze livestock/cattle/sheep
- kill/slaughter livestock
- preserve/smoke/cure/salt meat
- run a fish farm/an organic dairy farm
- engage in/be involved in intensive (pig/fish) farming
- use/apply (chemical/organic) fertilizer/insecticides/pesticides
- begin/do/conduct field trials of GM (= genetically modified) crops
- grow/develop GM crops/seeds/plants/foods
- fund/invest in genetic engineering/research
- improve/increase crop yields
- face/suffer from/alleviate food shortages
- label food that contains GMOs (= genetically modified organisms)
- eliminate/reduce farm subsidies
- oppose/be against factory farming/GM food
- promote/encourage/support organic/sustainable farming
Extra ExamplesTopics Farmingc1- dogs that are bred for their fighting ability
- fish that have been selectively bred for their appearance
- The otters were bred in captivity and then released into the wild.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb- in captivity
- successfully
- commercially
- …
- for
- [transitive] breed something to be the cause of something
- Nothing breeds success like success.
- [transitive, usually passive] breed something into somebody to educate somebody in a particular way as they are growing up
- Fear of failure was bred into him at an early age.
Word OriginOld English brēdan ‘produce (offspring), bear (a child)’, of Germanic origin; related to German brüten, also to brood.
Idioms
See breed in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee breed in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic Englishborn and bred
- born and having grown up in a particular place with a particular background and education
- He was born and bred in Boston.
- I'm a Londoner, born and bred.
More Like This Alliteration in idiomsAlliteration in idioms- belt and braces
- black and blue
- born and bred
- chalk and cheese
- chop and change
- done and dusted
- down and dirty
- in dribs and drabs
- eat somebody out of house and home
- facts and figures
- fast and furious
- first and foremost
- forgive and forget
- hale and hearty
- hem and haw
- kith and kin
- mix and match
- part and parcel
- puff and pant
- to rack and ruin
- rant and rave
- risk life and limb
- short and sweet
- signed and sealed
- spick and span
- through thick and thin
- this and that
- top and tail
- tried and tested
- wax and wane
breed like rabbits
- (informal, often offensive) to have a lot of babies in a short space of time
familiarity breeds contempt
- (saying) knowing somebody/something very well may cause you to lose respect for them/it
Check pronunciation:
breed