BREED Synonyms: 210 Similar and Opposite Words

breed 1 of 2

noun

Definition of breed

as in type

a number of persons or things that are grouped together because they have something in common some people say that honest politicians are a rare breed

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Relevance

breed

2 of 2

verb

ˈbrēd

as in to reproduce

to bring forth offspring rabbits will breed very frequently unless they're kept separated

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as in to raise

to bring to maturity through care and education he was bred to a life in the military by his father, himself an army captain

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in to cause

to be the cause of (a situation, action, or state of mind) this habit of favoring one employee over the others will breed resentment

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in to sleep

to engage in sexual intercourse cats breeding outside our window made a horrible racket last night

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as in to plant

to set permanently in the consciousness or mind-set parents who breed in their children a deep respect for people of all classes

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of breed

Noun

But in Zelensky’s office on Tuesday, an American sports hero was handing him an American dog breed. — Laurie Kellman, Los Angeles Times, 27 Aug. 2026 Just in time for National Dog Day, Rover analyzed millions of dog breeds submitted by pet owners nationwide to find both popular breeds and fastest-rising favorites. — Liz Gray, USA Today, 26 Aug. 2026

Verb

Since mosquitos breed in standing water, Harrison advises residents to check their properties for it. — Michael Cuglietta, The Orlando Sentinel, 27 Aug. 2026 The Better Cotton Initiative (BCI) is betting that Avalo can breed them faster—and help get them into fields. — Alexandra Harrell, Footwear News, 27 Aug. 2026 See All Example Sentences for breed

Recent Examples of Synonyms for breed

Noun

John Ratcliffe’s surprise talks with Russian officials were the first of their kind since his predecessor visited in late 2021, also to deliver a warning — to not attack Ukraine.

— Prashant Rao, semafor.com, 27 Aug. 2026
The United States and India finalized a consequential trade deal in February, the first of its kind between the two countries, which promises to increase bilateral trade to $500 billion by 2030.

— C. Raja Mohan, Foreign Affairs, 27 Aug. 2026

Definition of kind

Verb

Repeating this process can be time-consuming and difficult to reproduce.

— Jijo Malayil, Interesting Engineering, 27 Aug. 2026
The team then ran thousands of simulations, testing which combinations of globular cluster properties and dark matter distributions could reproduce the stream's observed brightness and shape.

— Sharmila Kuthunur, Space.com, 26 Aug. 2026

Definition of reproduce

Verb

This comes after shares of Target spiked last Wednesday after the retailer reported second-quarter top- and bottom-line gains and raised its outlook for the year.

— Kathryn Hopkins, Footwear News, 26 Aug. 2026
If passed, the USPS will raise rates by an average of 6% for retail and commercial USPS Ground Advantage, Priority Mail, Priority Mail Express, and Parcel Select shipments, according to the USPS press release.

— Charna Flam, PEOPLE, 26 Aug. 2026

Definition of raise

Verb

One day, Cole paged through an album whose acidic glues caused her particular anguish.

— Laura Preston, New Yorker, 30 Aug. 2026
The rocks and melted water then swelled the rivers in the valleys below, causing a torrent of water that swept buildings, bridges and earth downstream in Tibet and Nepal.

— Victoria Milko, Los Angeles Times, 30 Aug. 2026

Definition of cause

Verb

Dogs slept outside and got baths every six months and sometimes disappeared for three days and then came home smelling like Paris Hilton circa 2003, and no one asked any questions.

— Mimi Montgomery, PEOPLE, 26 Aug. 2026
Some slept on the floors, others circulated in and out of the air conditioning, and a few children played and ate.

— Lillie Davidson, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 26 Aug. 2026

Definition of sleep

Verb

The island, just over 2 miles long, was created in the late 1960s from sand dredged during the deepening of the Elbe shipping channel that serves the port of Hamburg, then left to itself and gradually planted over.

— Scott Roxborough, HollywoodReporter, 28 Aug. 2026
Standing at two hours and 30 minutes, along with a 15-minute intermission, the narrative plants you in the middle of a world of ironies.

— Charlotte Observer, Charlotte Observer, 28 Aug. 2026

Definition of plant

Noun

The project uses horror and darkly comic genre elements to approach the psychological pressures of motherhood, extending Urban’s interest in personal experience as a route into broader social and political terrain.

— Davide Abbatescianni, Variety, 26 Aug. 2026
The [same goes for] Prisoner and Sweetpea, which does this in a very genre way.

— Georg Szalai, HollywoodReporter, 26 Aug. 2026

Definition of genre

Verb

Autumn joy stonecrop propagates readily indoors or outdoors, both from stem cuttings and from leaf cuttings placed on the soil surface.

— Alexandra Jones, The Spruce, 30 Aug. 2026
Rather than propagating vertically toward the electrodes, the dendrites spread horizontally inside the electrolyte.

— Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 28 Aug. 2026