interbreed
Americanverb (used with object)
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to crossbreed (a plant or animal).
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to cause to breed together.
verb (used without object)
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to crossbreed.
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to breed or mate with a closely related individual, as in a small, closed population.
verb
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(intr) to breed within a single family or strain so as to produce particular characteristics in the offspring
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another term for crossbreed
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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interbreedsimple
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interbreedssimple
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have interbredperfect
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has interbredperfect
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am interbreedingprogressive
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are interbreedingprogressive
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is interbreedingprogressive
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have been interbreedingperfect progressive
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has been interbreedingperfect progressive
Past
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interbredsimple
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had interbredperfect
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was interbreedingprogressive
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were interbreedingprogressive
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had been interbreedingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of interbreed
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Even though different species can still interbreed, these inversions limit how much their DNA mixes, helping maintain distinct traits.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 1, 2026
Barred owls and spotted owls are similar in appearance and the birds can even interbreed.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 11, 2025
These two broods may actually overlap — but probably not interbreed — in a small area near central Illinois, entomologists said.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 1, 2024
"These two species are interfertile, meaning that they can interbreed and produce viable offspring," the Center stated on its website.
From BBC ● Dec. 4, 2023
If those desirable mutants proceeded to interbreed with normal plants, the mutation would immediately be diluted or lost.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
It interbreeds in Siberia with C. caniceps, an East Siberian form.
From The History of the European Fauna by Scharff, Robert Francis
Some naturalists would separate them from the other cats, but the connection is supplied by the last species which, though possessing certain features of the lynx, yet interbreeds with the true cats.
From Natural History of the Mammalia of India and Ceylon by Sterndale, Robert Armitage
Gavæus frontalis interbreeds freely with domesticated cattle of all kinds.
From Natural History of the Mammalia of India and Ceylon by Sterndale, Robert Armitage
"When different cichlid species interbred, entire inversions can be passed between them -- bringing along key survival traits, like adaptations to specific environments, speeding up the process of evolution," said Blumer.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 1, 2026
In 2010 scientists reconstructed the Neanderthal genome -- blockbuster research that allowed for analysis making clear that the species interbred.
From Barron's ● Feb. 26, 2026
Those first modern humans that had interbred with Neanderthals and lived alongside them died out completely in Europe 40,000 years ago - but not before their offspring had spread further out into the world.
From BBC ● Dec. 12, 2024
This means Thorin's genome was full of the variants one usually sees with recent inbreeding, a striking feature given other modern humans lived nearby with whom Thorin's Neanderthal community could have interbred.
From Salon ● Sep. 14, 2024
They interbred with the Slavs and adopted a Slavic language and many Slavic customs, but they retained enough individuality to remain readily identifiable.
From Area Handbook for Bulgaria by Baluyut, Violeta D.
According to the researchers, interbreeding between ancient humans and Denisovans left behind many genetic variants that remain present in people today.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 14, 2026
But over hundreds of millennia, human migrations resulted in interbreeding, researchers say.
From Barron's ● Feb. 26, 2026
Scotland's nature agency NatureScot refers to these animals as feral pigs, and said they include hybrids - a mix of boar and domestic pigs following interbreeding.
From BBC ● Feb. 12, 2025
But whether that interbreeding was critical to H. elevatus separating from H. pardalinus and becoming its own distinct species was a mystery.
From Science Magazine ● Apr. 17, 2024
The Galápagos-in-a-carton experiment had demonstrated how a population of interbreeding organisms—flies, say—evolves over time.*
From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
