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

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

It’s a crossbreed of a Carolina Reaper and what Currie mysteriously classifies as a “pepper that a friend of mine sent me from Michigan that was brutally hot.”

From Seattle Times • Oct. 16, 2023

After what felt like an eternity, I was told I'd be getting a crossbreed Labrador Retriever bitch called Ursula.

From BBC • Aug. 6, 2023

The leashes were slipped, and the greyhounds went off like the wind, but the crossbreed remained quietly by the horses.

From Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 60, No. 369, July 1846 by Various

Related Words

• hybridize
• interbreed
• mix