crossbreed

American  

[kraws-breed, kros-] / ˈkrɔsˌbrid, ˈkrɒs- /

verb (used with object)

crossbreeds, present (3rd person singular) crossbred, past participle, past crossbreeding present participle

1. to produce (a hybrid); hybridize.

---

verb (used without object)

crossbreeds, present (3rd person singular) crossbred, past participle, past crossbreeding present participle

1. to undertake or engage in hybridizing; hybridize.

noun

1. an animal or group of animals produced by hybridization; hybrid.

crossbreed British  

/ ˈkrɒsˌbriːd /

verb

1. Also: interbreed.  to breed (animals or plants) using parents of different races, varieties, breeds, etc

---

noun

1. the offspring produced by such a breeding

crossbreed Scientific  

/ krôs′brēd′ /

1. To produce a hybrid animal or plant by breeding two animals or two plants of different species or varieties. For example, crossbreeding a male donkey with a female horse will produce a mule.

---

1. An animal or a plant produced by breeding two animals or plants of different species or varieties; a hybrid.

Other Word Forms

Conjugated Forms

Present

• have crossbred
  perfect
• has crossbred
  perfect 3rd person singular
• crossbreeding
  participle
• has been crossbreeding
  perfect progressive 3rd person singular
• are crossbreeding
  progressive
• crossbreeds
  singular 3rd person
• is crossbreeding
  progressive 3rd person singular
• am crossbreeding
  progressive 1st person singular
• have been crossbreeding
  perfect progressive

Past

• had crossbred
  perfect
• were crossbreeding
  progressive plural
• was crossbreeding
  progressive singular
• crossbred
  simple
• had been crossbreeding
  perfect progressive
• crossbred
  participle

Future

• will crossbreed
  simple
• will have crossbred
  perfect
• will be crossbreeding
  progressive
• will have been crossbreeding
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of crossbreed

First recorded in 1665–75; cross- + breed

Explanation

A crossbreed is an animal or plant that’s a mixture of two different breeds or types. To crossbreed is to produce a creature of this type. If you crossbreed a lion and a tiger, you make a liger. Geneticists, who study DNA, make crossbreeds when they mix parents with different genes to create a new type of offspring. Often such crossbreeds are new kinds of plants. Different animals can be mixed to create crossbreeds, too. A common example of a crossbreed is with dog breeds, like when a poodle and a schnauzer are bred to create a schnoodle.

Example Sentences

This is a weaker attempt to crossbreed the classic Universal monsters with contemporary anxieties: a post-pandemic lockdown lament about the impossibility of protecting children from fear.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 15, 2025

And when distant relatives "crossbreed," this can lead to the emergence of viruses with completely new properties.

From Science Daily • May 13, 2024

Mr Currie said Pepper X is a crossbreed of a Carolina Reaper and a "pepper that a friend of mine sent me from Michigan that was brutally hot".

From BBC • Oct. 17, 2023

Later there were dorgis — a dachshund and corgi crossbreed — owned by the queen.

From Seattle Times • Sep. 11, 2022

Where the two subspecies occur together, individuals of one subspecies do not crossbreed with individuals of the other subspecies and therefore react toward one another as do full species.

From Speciation of the Wandering Shrew by Findley, James S.

Related Words

• hybridize
• interbreed
• mix