crossbreed

American  

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

verb (used with object)

crossbred, crossbreeding

1. to produce (a hybrid); hybridize.

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verb (used without object)

crossbred, crossbreeding

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

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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.

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

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

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

Four years ago, Greene charged $75,000 for one of her fully trained dogs, a crossbreed of German, Belgian and Dutch shepherds with distinctive black masks and a stern wolfy appearance.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 1, 2023

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

From Seattle Times • Sep. 11, 2022

"Archibald eclipses the Muses themselves; his words flow like the sylvan stream by moonlight, and his melody is a crossbreed of the nightingale and the owl."

From The Spy by Cooper, James Fenimore

Related Words

• hybridize
• interbreed
• mix