crossbreeding

IPA/ˈkrɒs.briːd/
IPA/ˈkrɑːs.briːd/

crossbreeding — noun

  • crossbreedingsingular
  • crossbreedingsplural

1. the activity of mating or crossing two different breeds, so that the result is a

1.nounB2
Definition

the activity of mating or crossing two different breeds, so that the result is a brand-new variety

Example

Crossbreeding helped the farmers raise cattle that survive cold winters.

subject use: crossbreeding + helped + result

Years of careful crossbreeding gave the orchard sweeter, larger apples.

collocation: years of careful crossbreeding

Common collocations
  • selective crossbreeding
  • controlled crossbreeding
  • crossbreeding programme
Synonyms
Antonyms
  • inbreeding

    breeding within one closely related line

Usage Note

Usually uncountable, naming the practice rather than one resulting animal; for a single animal or plant produced this way, use the noun 'crossbreed'.

Common Mistakes

They adopted a crossbreeding from the shelter.
They adopted a crossbreed from the shelter.
'crossbreeding' is the process, while the animal itself is a 'crossbreed'.

crossbreeding — verb

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: verb/1

All four verbs describe pairing two living things to make young, but they differ in scope and register. 'Crossbreed' and 'hybridize' both stress combining two different breeds or types on purpose; 'hybridize' sounds more scientific and is common in genetics and agriculture, while 'crossbreed' suits farms, kennels, and gardens. 'Interbreed' usually points to mixing between separate species, populations, or groups, and it often happens naturally rather than by a breeder's plan. 'Mate' is the plainest word and simply means two animals pairing to reproduce, with no sense that the types differ. So a scientist might hybridize two strains of rice, a farmer crossbreeds cattle for hardiness, wolves and dogs interbreed in the wild, and two pandas finally mate at the zoo.

hybridizeinterbreed ↗cross ↗mate ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

Phrases

  • crossbreeding programme
  • through crossbreeding

Prepositions

Etymology

LatinOld EnglishEnglish

Crossbreeding joins two everyday English words. 'Cross', meaning to mix or pass over, reached English from Latin 'crux' ('cross, stake') by way of Old Irish and Old English. 'Breed' is native Old English 'brēdan', 'to bring up or produce young'. Speakers put them together in the modern era to name the deliberate mixing of two breeds, then added '-ing' to form the noun for the activity.

First known use

1675

1675, in the meaning defined at transitive sense Noun