cross-reaction

[ kraws-ree-ak-shuhn-kros- ]

/ ˈkrɔs riˈæk ʃənˈkrɒs- /

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noun

an immunologic reaction between a given antigen and an antibody or lymphokine that is specific for a different antigen resembling the first one.

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Origin of cross-reaction

First recorded in 1945–50

OTHER WORDS FROM cross-reaction

cross-re·ac·tive, adjectivecross-re·ac·tiv·i·ty, noun

How to use cross-reaction in a sentence

We haven't had any real fan reaction yet, but our collective fingers are crossed.
‘Archer’ Creator Adam Reed Spills Season 6 Secrets, From Surreal Plotlines to Life Post-ISIS|Marlow Stern|January 8, 2015|DAILY BEAST
The Via Dolorosa ends at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, and is marked by nine stations of the cross.
Oops! Jesus’ Last Steps Are in the Wrong Place|Candida Moss|January 6, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Or how kicking a reaction-less eunuch in the crotch over and over again is comedy.
‘Galavant’: A Drunken, Horny Musical Fairy Tale|Melissa Leon|January 5, 2015|DAILY BEAST
If they were meaningful, we might have realized it before—surely one of these kids wore a cross, or a yarmulke, or a hijab?
Harry Potter and the Torah of Terror|Candida Moss, Joel Baden|January 4, 2015|DAILY BEAST

Your general reaction runs along the lines of: “When will these geezers give it up and go for a mall walk or something?”
The World’s Toughest Political Quiz|Jeff Greenfield|December 31, 2014|DAILY BEAST
In cross-section the burrows varied from round (three inches in diameter) to oval (three inches high and four inches wide).
Summer Birds From the Yucatan Peninsula|Erwin E. Klaas
I cannot believe that God would think it necessary to come on earth as a man, and die on the Cross.
God and my Neighbour|Robert Blatchford
While this reaction lasted he laughed away the evidence, and honestly believed he was exaggerating trifles.
The Wave|Algernon Blackwood
Ordinarily the diazo appears a little earlier than the Widal reaction—about the fourth or fifth day—but it may be delayed.
A Manual of Clinical Diagnosis|James Campbell Todd
At Jaques Cartier they had but one batteau to cross the army over with, and were fired upon during the whole time by two frigates.
The Every Day Book of History and Chronology|Joel Munsell

Medical definitions for cross-reaction

cross reaction

A specific reaction between an antiserum and an antigen complex other than the complex that caused the production of the specific antibodies of the antiserum.