CROSSBREEDING

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does crossbreeding mean? 

• CROSSBREEDING (noun)
  The noun CROSSBREEDING has 2 senses:

1. (genetics) the act of mixing different species or varieties of animals or plants and thus to produce hybrids

2. reproduction by parents of different races (especially by white and non-white persons)

  Familiarity information: CROSSBREEDING used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• CROSSBREEDING (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

(genetics) the act of mixing different species or varieties of animals or plants and thus to produce hybrids

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

cross; crossbreeding; crossing; hybridisation; hybridization; hybridizing; interbreeding

Hypernyms ("crossbreeding" is a kind of...):

conjugation; coupling; mating; pairing; sexual union; union (the act of pairing a male and female for reproductive purposes)

Domain category:

genetic science; genetics (the branch of biology that studies heredity and variation in organisms)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "crossbreeding"):

dihybrid cross (hybridization using two traits with two alleles each)

monohybrid cross (hybridization using a single trait with two alleles (as in Mendel's experiments with garden peas))

reciprocal; reciprocal cross (hybridization involving a pair of crosses that reverse the sexes associated with each genotype)

test-cross; testcross (a cross between an organism whose genotype for a certain trait is unknown and an organism that is homozygous recessive for that trait so the unknown genotype can be determined from that of the offspring)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Reproduction by parents of different races (especially by white and non-white persons)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

crossbreeding; interbreeding; miscegenation

Hypernyms ("crossbreeding" is a kind of...):

breeding; facts of life; procreation; reproduction (the sexual activity of conceiving and bearing offspring)

 Context examples 

Sea rice that is able to grow in tidal flats or saline-alkali land was developed by crossbreeding different varieties of rice.

(Saltwater Rice Successfully Harvested by Chinese Scientists, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)