bred

past tense of breed
1
as in propagated
to bring forth offspring rabbits will breed very frequently unless they're kept separated

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance
2
3
4
as in slept
to engage in sexual intercourse cats breeding outside our window made a horrible racket last night

Synonyms & Similar Words

5

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 bred Labradors are often more energetic and bred for hunting, retrieving, and service work, whereas goldens are prized for their patience, friendliness, and trainability. Lydia Patrick, MSNBC Newsweek, 9 Sep. 2025 That is to say, more chickens are bred and butchered each year than there are alive at this very moment in time. Scott Travers, Forbes.com, 7 Sep. 2025 The upheaval in the economics of college sports, particularly with star athletes now making millions in above-board pay, has bred a new type of potential conflict, one with a more direct line between money donated to universities and the salaries paid to future NFL players. Eben Novy-Williams, Sportico.com, 4 Sep. 2025 The voles were bred in captivity and then placed into pens to head to the river banks, the video shows. Irene Wright, Miami Herald, 4 Sep. 2025 Ultimately, though, the odd man out — the new component in a structure which has bred extraordinary success — was Ten Hag. Sebastian Stafford-Bloor, New York Times, 2 Sep. 2025 Rispoli and the 3-year-old Irish-bred also teamed to win the La Jolla Handicap on May 3. Bill Center, San Diego Union-Tribune, 1 Sep. 2025 The showy hybrids are simply bred for one big show and do not typically perpetuate. Kim Toscano, Southern Living, 24 Aug. 2025 Construction companies and the city are accused of negligence when the towers filled with storm waters that bred bacteria. Nicole Fallert, USA Today, 22 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bred
Verb
  • Boom, that prevents the true underlying disorder of being delusional from being propagated by the AI.
    Lance Eliot, Forbes.com, 7 Sep. 2025
  • But Kennedy has already propagated an insidious revolution within the agencies under his control, using a playbook familiar to illiberal leaders—culling expertise, silencing critics, and weaponizing administrative procedure to grant a veneer of legitimacy to his actions.
    Dhruv Khullar, New Yorker, 6 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • Getty Images Rec, a technology company serving the parks and recreation industry, has raised $11 million in a Series A funding round in which several former and current professional athletes participated.
    Tim Casey, Forbes.com, 17 Sep. 2025
  • The Eco Wave Power logo is displayed on a floater raised out of the water during a demonstration of Eco Wave Power electricity generation technology using the power of ocean waves in the harbor at AltaSea at the Port of Los Angeles in San Pedro, California, on August 26, 2025.
    Jeff Young, MSNBC Newsweek, 17 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • Combined, these economic and political pressures created fertile ground for social mobilization.
    Nir Kshetri, The Conversation, 14 Sep. 2025
  • Nothing about disabled people should be created without disabled people and this principle becomes even more critical when dealing with AI systems that can perpetuate or challenge existing biases.
    Cornelia C. Walther, Forbes.com, 14 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • Friedman slept three hours the night before, in preparation for the unveiling of his biggest feat yet.
    Sofia Celeste, Footwear News, 5 Sep. 2025
  • Feel like Bryson Tiller is being slept on and will be a factor by the end of the year.
    Shreyas Laddha, Kansas City Star, 5 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • Although some people may see leaves changing color before late October, this often happens because the plants are landscape trees, or trees that grew after seeds from other areas were planted, said Seiler.
    Saleen Martin, USA Today, 14 Sep. 2025
  • Since this aphid attracts a wide variety of beneficial insects that prey on it and pecan pests, crape myrtles have been planted in pecan orchards with a positive impact on pecan harvests.
    Joshua Siskin, Oc Register, 13 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
    Alan Lightman September 12, Literary Hub, 12 Sep. 2025
  • But this plan ignores the fact that an interlocked ecology cannot be reproduced by just relocating some species.
    M. Rajshekhar, Time, 11 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • The Second World War left Japan devastated, but the seven-year occupation that followed inevitably fostered exposure and, for some, a certain attraction to American culture.
    Lauren Collins, New Yorker, 15 Sep. 2025
  • Some were neighbors who fostered young children in need of a home, a pharmacist who selflessly served the same community for decades or a veteran who fearlessly died for her country.
    Hope Karnopp, jsonline.com, 11 Sep. 2025
Verb
  • Judge Arthur Engoron issued the ruling on Tuesday to settle the lawsuit brought by Robert Costello, a lawyer from the firm Davidoff Hutcher & Citron LLP, according to the Associated Press.
    Washington Examiner Staff, The Washington Examiner, 18 Sep. 2025
  • After more than a decade of proxy battles, 2022 brought a surprising truce when Cracker Barrel and Biglari entered into a Nomination and Cooperation Agreement.
    Lily Mae Lazarus, Fortune, 18 Sep. 2025

Cite this Entry

“Bred.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bred. Accessed 18 Sep. 2025.

More from Merriam-Webster on bred

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!