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
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Seeds from heirloom vegetables — those that have not been hybridized or otherwise manipulated — can be saved from year to year and counted on to produce crops similar to their mother. Jessica Damiano, San Diego Union-Tribune, 26 Jan. 2024 Members of the taxonomic genus Cucurbita, the half dozen or so original species have been hybridized and selected over the last 10,000 or so years to yield an impressive diversity of varieties. Paul Cappiello, The Courier-Journal, 18 Oct. 2024 Cultivators are using genetic sequencing and are hybridizing cultivars from ever more distant lineages to hunt for improvements, plus sheer aesthetic novelty. Mattha Busby, WIRED, 10 Oct. 2024 Neandertals themselves might not have died out so much as simply been absorbed into H. sapiens populations in a process known as genetic swamping, through which a common species can hybridize a rare one out of existence. Rebecca Heisman, Scientific American, 17 Sep. 2024 See all Example Sentences for hybridize 

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 12 Dec. 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

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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