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

I am personally drawn to the most anxious among the herd — Cowboy — a crossbreed who holds his head in rigid panic, hair long and straight as a Long Beach girl’s.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 9, 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

They crossbreed different varieties to produce new ones that grow better and are more resistant to diseases.

From BBC • Mar. 23, 2023

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