Definition

1. Verb:

   • To breed animals or plants using parents of different varieties, breeds, or species. This involves mating individuals from distinct genetic groups to produce offspring.

2. Noun:

   • An organism that is the offspring of genetically dissimilar parents or stock. This especially refers to the offspring produced by breeding plants or animals of different varieties, breeds, or species.

Examples of Usage

• Verb:

  • The farmer decided to crossbreed two types of wheat to develop a more resilient strain.
  • It is possible to crossbreed these flowers, but the resulting hybrids may be sterile.

• Noun:

  • The labradoodle is a popular crossbreed between a Labrador Retriever and a Poodle.
  • This plant is a crossbreed, combining traits from its two parent species.

Advanced Usage

• Technical/Genetic Context: In genetics and agriculture, "crossbreed" specifically refers to the process or result of hybridization to combine desirable traits, such as disease resistance or higher yield.
  • The research focuses on strategies to successfully crossbreed commercial crops with their wild relatives.

Variants and Related Words

• Crossbreeding (n): The act or process of producing a crossbreed.
  • Selective crossbreeding has been practiced for centuries in animal husbandry.
• Crossbred (adj): Describing an organism produced by crossbreeding.
  • The crossbred calves showed improved growth rates.
• Hybrid (n): A near synonym often used interchangeably with "crossbreed," though "hybrid" can have a broader technical meaning in genetics.
• Interbreed (v): To breed with one another. Note: "Crossbreed" typically implies a deliberate action by an external agent (like a breeder), while "interbreed" can occur naturally.

Synonyms

• Hybridize (v): To cause to produce hybrids; to cross.
• Cross (v): To interbreed (animals or plants).
• Hybrid (n): The offspring of two plants or animals of different species or varieties.

Related Phrases

• Cross between: A phrase used to describe a crossbreed by naming its parents.
  • A tangelo is a cross between a tangerine and a grapefruit.

Noun

1. (genetics) an organism that is the offspring of genetically dissimilar parents or stock; especially offspring produced by breeding plants or animals of different varieties or breeds or species
   • a mule is a cross between a horse and a donkey

Verb

1. breed animals or plants using parents of different races and varieties
   • cross a horse and a donkey
   • Mendel tried crossbreeding
   • these species do not interbreed