Breeding means the careful selection and mating of animals or plants to produce offspring with desired characteristics. When farmers breed cattle, they choose parents with traits like strong health or high milk production, hoping their calves will inherit these qualities. Dog breeders might breed golden retrievers that are especially gentle with children, or work to maintain a breed's traditional appearance and temperament.

The process takes patience and knowledge. A horse breeder might spend years selecting which horses to breed together, studying their bloodlines and observing their offspring. Plant breeders have developed sweeter corn, disease-resistant wheat, and roses in countless colors through generations of careful breeding.

People also use the word more generally: mosquitoes breed in standing water, meaning they reproduce there. A messy room might be called a breeding ground for bacteria, a place where germs multiply easily.

The word can also describe someone's upbringing and manners, though this usage sounds old-fashioned today. Someone with “good breeding” was raised with refined manners and education. While we don't use the phrase much anymore, we still talk about well-bred dogs or horses, meaning they come from quality bloodlines and often have excellent temperament and characteristics.