Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Breed \Breed\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Bred}; p. pr. & vb. n.
   {Breeding}.] [OE. breden, AS. br[=e]dan to nourish, cherish,
   keep warm, from br[=o]d brood; akin to D. broeden to brood,
   OHG. bruoten, G. br["u]ten. See {Brood}.]
   1. To produce as offspring; to bring forth; to bear; to
      procreate; to generate; to beget; to hatch.

            Yet every mother breeds not sons alike. --Shak.

            If the sun breed maggots in a dead dog. --Shak.

   2. To take care of in infancy, and through the age of youth;
      to bring up; to nurse and foster.

            To bring thee forth with pain, with care to breed.
                                                  --Dryden.

            Born and bred on the verge of the wilderness.
                                                  --Everett.

   3. To educate; to instruct; to form by education; to train;
      -- sometimes followed by up.

            But no care was taken to breed him a Protestant.
                                                  --Bp. Burnet.

            His farm may not remove his children too far from
            him, or the trade he breeds them up in. --Locke.

   4. To engender; to cause; to occasion; to originate; to
      produce; as, to breed a storm; to breed disease.

            Lest the place And my quaint habits breed
            astonishment.                         --Milton.

   5. To give birth to; to be the native place of; as, a pond
      breeds fish; a northern country breeds stout men.

   6. To raise, as any kind of stock.

   7. To produce or obtain by any natural process. [Obs.]

            Children would breed their teeth with less danger.
                                                  --Locke.

   Syn: To engender; generate; beget; produce; hatch; originate;
        bring up; nourish; train; instruct.

Breeding \Breed"ing\, n.
   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. --Shak.

   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. --Shak.

   {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}.

Source : WordNet®

breeding
     adj : producing offspring or set aside especially for producing
           offspring; "the breeding population"; "retained a few
           bulls for breeding purposes"

breeding
     n 1: elegance by virtue of fineness of manner and expression
          [syn: {genteelness}, {gentility}]
     2: the result of good upbringing (especially knowledge of
        correct social behavior); "a woman of breeding and
        refinement" [syn: {education}, {training}]
     3: raising someone to be an accepted member of the community;
        "they debated whether nature or nurture was more
        important" [syn: {bringing up}, {fostering}, {fosterage},
        {nurture}, {raising}, {rearing}, {upbringing}]
     4: the production of animals or plants by inbreeding or
        hybridization
     5: the sexual activity of conceiving and bearing offspring
        [syn: {reproduction}, {procreation}, {facts of life}]