Breeder Meaning
/ˈbɹiːdɚ/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
nounA person who breeds plants or animals (professionally).
nounEllipsis of breeder reactor, a type of nuclear reactor that creates more fissile material than it consumes, often used for the production of atomic weapons.
Sentence Examples
Sami was a dog breeder.
Tom is a dog breeder.
Malnourished animals were taken away from the breeder.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The dog ____ carefully selected the healthiest parent dogs for her new litter.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The horse ____ showed us several of his finest and fastest animals.
Word Origin & History
From breed + -er. Cognate with West Frisian brieder (“one who breeds, breeder”), Dutch broeier (“brooder, vagrant”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Breeders have figured out that if they can take one haploid set of chromosomes from a cross and copy it (or double it creating a double haploid), they will have a pure line almost instantly."
— 2016, Jayson Lusk, Unnaturally Delicious, →ISBN, page 137:
"I was wondering if anyone out there could mail me a base for MIT's 'breeder' - the one with 8? puffer trains forming glider-guns. I've seen in in^([sic]) a few books but can't seem to get it working ..."
— 1992 June 17, Bill Sharp, comp.theory.cell-automata (Usenet):
"I later implemented an improved version of the algorithms on an Atari STe, this time the goal was to run the breeder, which it did at 2 gen/sec at the stage when the first glider gun has been assembled."
— 2002 July 23, Owen Rees, “Wolfram and "general 2D simulators"”, in comp.theory.cell-automata (Usenet):
"A glider-emitting breeder pattern can probably also be constructed in this rule, which would out-radiate any chaotic pattern by a considerable margin."
— 2008 May 31, Dave Greene, “Life: B37/S23 - A Chaotic Universe.”, in comp.theory.cell-automata (Usenet):
"The number of souls in this kingdom being usually reckoned one million and a half, of these I calculate there may be about two hundred thousand couple whose wives are breeders; from which number I subtract thirty thousand couples who are able to maintain their own children, although I apprehend there cannot be so many, under the present distresses of the kingdom; but this being granted, there will remain an hundred and seventy thousand breeders."
— 1729, Jonathan Swift, A Modest Proposal:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The dog ____ carefully selected the healthiest parent dogs for her new litter.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The horse ____ showed us several of his finest and fastest animals.