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Webster 1913 Edition


Breeding

Breed′ing

,
Noun.
1.
The act or process of generating or bearing.
2.
The raising or improving of any kind of domestic animals;
as, farmers should pay attention to
breeding
.
3.
Nurture; education; formation of manners.
She had her
breeding
at my father’s charge.
Shakespeare
4.
Deportment or behavior in the external offices and decorums of social life; manners; knowledge of, or training in, the ceremonies, or polite observances of society.
Delicacy of
breeding
, or that polite deference and respect which civility obliges us either to express or counterfeit towards the persons with whom we converse.
Hume.
5.
Descent; pedigree; extraction.
[Obs.]
Honest gentlemen, I know not your
breeding
.
Shakespeare
Close breeding
,
In and in breeding
,
breeding from a male and female from the same parentage.
Cross breeding
,
breeding from a male and female of different lineage.
Good breeding
,
politeness; genteel deportment.
Syn. – Education; instruction; nurture; training; manners. See
Education
.

Webster 1828 Edition


Breeding

BREE'DING

,
ppr.
Bearing and nourishing, as a fetus; engendering; producing; educating.

BREE'DING

,
Noun.
The act of generating or of producing.
1.
The raising of a breed or breeds; as, the farmer attends to the breeding of sheep.
2.
Nurture; education; instruction; formation of manners.
She had her breeding at my father's charge.
3.
By way of eminence, manners; knowledge of ceremony; deportment or behavior in the external offices and decorums of social life. Hence good breeding is politeness, or the qualifications which constitute genteel deportment.

Definition 2024


breeding

breeding

English

Noun

breeding (countable and uncountable, plural breedings)

  1. The process through which propagation, growth or development occurs.
    Your dog has had good breeding.
  2. The act of insemination by natural or artificial means.
  3. The act of copulation in animals.
  4. The good manners regarded as characteristic of the aristocracy and conferred by heredity.
  5. Nurture; education; formation of manners.
    • Shakespeare
      She had her breeding at my father's charge.
  6. Descent; pedigree; extraction.
    • Shakespeare
      Honest gentlemen, I know not your breeding.
  7. (gay slang) Ejaculation inside the rectum during bareback anal sex, usually applied to gay pornography.

Translations

Adjective

breeding (not comparable)

  1. Of, relating to or used for breeding.
    Your toothbrush is a breeding ground for bacteria.

Derived terms

Verb

breeding

  1. present participle of breed
    Through genetic manipulation and harsh training, I am breeding a species of super-dogs to take over the world.

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