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hybridize

[hahy-bri-dahyz]
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verb (used with object), hy·brid·ized, hy·brid·iz·ing.
  1. to cause to produce hybrids; cross.
  2. to breed or cause the production of (a hybrid).
  3. to form in a hybrid manner.
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verb (used without object), hy·brid·ized, hy·brid·iz·ing.
  1. to produce hybrids.
  2. to cause the production of hybrids by crossing.
  3. to form a double-stranded nucleic acid of two single strands of DNA or RNA, or one of each, by allowing the base pairs of the separate strands to form complementary bonds.
  4. to fuse two cells of different genotypes into a hybrid cell.
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Also especially British, hy·brid·ise.

Origin of hybridize

First recorded in 1835–45; hybrid + -ize
Related formshy·brid·iz·a·ble, adjectivehy·brid·i·za·tion, nounhy·brid·ist, hy·brid·iz·er, nounin·ter·hy·brid·ize, verb (used without object), in·ter·hy·brid·ized, in·ter·hy·brid·iz·ing.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for hybridization

Historical Examples

  • Consequently, hybridization was a maze in which these breeders often lost themselves.

    Manual of American Grape-Growing

    U. P. Hedrick

  • Hybridization has been the chief means of improving the grape.

  • Some of these might have value for work in hybridization but it is doubtful.

  • He has also carried out experiments in the hybridization of zebras and horses.

  • We have here one of the numberless mysteries disclosed by hybridization.

    About Orchids

    Frederick Boyle

British Dictionary definitions for hybridization

hybridize

hybridise

verb
  1. to produce or cause to produce hybrids; crossbreed
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Derived Formshybridizable or hybridisable, adjectivehybridization or hybridisation, nounhybridizer or hybridiser, noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for hybridization

n.

1824, from hybridize (1802, from hybrid + -ize) + -ation.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
hybridization in Culture

hybridization

Producing offspring from parents of different stock.

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Note

Hybridization is used extensively in agriculture, where new forms of hardy and disease-resistant plants are produced commercially.
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.