hybridize

verb

hy·​brid·​ize ˈhī-brə-ˌdīz How to pronounce hybridize (audio)
hybridized; hybridizing

transitive verb

: to cause to produce hybrids : interbreed

intransitive verb

: to produce hybrids
hybridization noun
hybridizer noun

Examples of hybridize in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web There are websites that assert the plants have been hybridized to need less water. Letters To The Editor, The Mercury News, 23 Feb. 2024 Abad and his team are also working on plasmonic heat radiation shields and trying to hybridize their paint with biodegradable functional polymers. Rupendra Brahambhatt, Ars Technica, 24 May 2023 Shrub roses ‘Cosmic Clouds,’ hybridized by Christian Bédard and introduced by Weeks Roses, has open to full, cuppy, medium-size blooms. Rita Perwich, San Diego Union-Tribune, 2 Dec. 2023 The only place that the authors of the new research, published Wednesday in PLOS One, found the two lice clades commonly hybridize is in the Americas. Brian Handwerk, Smithsonian Magazine, 8 Nov. 2023 Originally hybridized in Brazil in the 1950s, the killer bees had migrated north through Mexico. Scott Lafee, San Diego Union-Tribune, 12 Sep. 2023 And even plants, which hybridize promiscuously, are often ill-served by it. Razib Khan, Discover Magazine, 18 Mar. 2013 David Austin Roses usually releases about two varieties every year — another one is expected next month — after selecting two parental roses and hybridizing them by cross-pollinating around 40,000 seeds by hand. Remy Tumin, New York Times, 17 June 2023 Polo shirts were draped and extended into dresses, and puffer jackets were hybridized with tailoring. Vogue, 14 June 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'hybridize.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1845, in the meaning defined at transitive sense

Time Traveler
The first known use of hybridize was in 1845

Dictionary Entries Near hybridize

Cite this Entry

“Hybridize.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hybridize. Accessed 29 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

hybridize

verb
hy·​brid·​ize ˈhī-brə-ˌdīz How to pronounce hybridize (audio)
hybridized; hybridizing
: to produce or cause to produce hybrids : interbreed
hybridization noun
hybridizer
ˈhī-brə-ˌdī-zər
noun

Medical Definition

hybridize

verb
hy·​brid·​ize
variants also British hybridise
hybridized also British hybridised; hybridizing also British hybridising

transitive verb

: to cause to interbreed or combine so as to produce hybrids
hybridize two species
fuse and hybridize somatic cells of two different species
hybridize two DNAs

intransitive verb

: to produce hybrids
hybridization noun
also British hybridisation
hybridizer noun
also British hybridiser

More from Merriam-Webster on hybridize

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