Search the Dictionary

One of a breed of hardy cattle originating in the country of Devon, England. Those of pure blood have a deep red color. The small, longhorned variety, called North Devons, is distinguished by the superiority of its working oxen.

The art and manner of speaking and conversing. Of excellent breeding, admirable discourse. Shak.

Marked by dissensions; apt to breed discord; quarrelsome; contentious; factious. -- Dis*sen"tious*ly, adv.

ercise of discernment; discrimination. To take away therefore that error, which confusion breedeth, distinction is requisite. Hooker.

One of a breed of large-bodied domestic fowls, having five toes, or the hind toe double. There are several strains, as the white, gray, and silver-gray. They are highly esteemed for the table.

considerable height above the ground, and having compartments, in which domestic pigeons breed; a dove house. Like an eagle in a dovecote, I Fluttered your Volscians in Corioli. Shak.

up the beggar from the dunghill. 1. Sam. ii. 8. Dunghill fowl, a domestic fowl of common breed.

One or a breed of short-horned cattle, originating in the county of Durham, England. The Durham cattle are noted for their beef-producing quality.

Not procreating or breeding freely; as, one race may be dysgenesic with respect to another. Darwin.

A condition of not generating or breeding freely; infertility; a form homogenesis in which the hybrids are sterile among themselves, but are fertile with members of either parent race.

Any species of sea duck of the genus Somateria, esp. Somateria mollissima, which breeds in the northern parts of Europe and America, and lines its nest with fine down (taken from its own body) which is an article of commerce; -- called also eider duck. The American eider (S. Dresseri), the king eider (S. spectabilis),…

Eskimos resemble the Mongolian race. [Written also Esquimau.] Eskimo dog (Zoöl.), one of breed of large and powerful dogs used by the Eskimos to draw sledges. It closely resembles the gray wolf, with which it is often crossed.

The forms required by good breeding, or prescribed by authority, to be observed in social or official life; observance of the proprieties of rank and occasion; conventional decorum; ceremonial code of polite society. The pompous etiquette to the court of Louis the Fourteenth. Prescott.

r; as, an excellent man, artist, citizen, husband, discourse, book, song, etc.; excellent breeding, principles, aims, action. To love . . . What I see excellent in good or fair. Milton.

One of a breed of horned sheep of Devonshire, England, having white legs and face and black nostrils. They are esp. valuable for mutton.

A person who breeds or trains hawks for taking birds or game; one who follows the sport of fowling with hawks. Johnson.

ecial liking for, or interest in, a particular object or class or objects; hence, one who breeds and keeps for sale birds and animals; as, bird fancier, dog fancier, etc.

s, behavior, etiquette, etc.; particularly, the mode or style usual among persons of good breeding; as, to dress, dance, sing, ride, etc., in the fashion. The innocent diversions in fashion. Locke. As now existing, fashion is a form of social regulation analogous to constitutional government as a form of political regu…

ther in the tail of a cock being considered an indication that he is not of the true game breed.

A man without good breeding or worth; an ignoble or mean man. Worth makes the man, and want of it, the fellow. Pope.