interbreed

verb in·ter·breed \ ˌin-tər-ˈbrēd \

Updated on: 25 May 2018

Definition of interbreed

interbred play \ˌin-tər-ˈbred\; interbreeding

intransitive verb

: to breed together: such as

a : crossbreed

b : to breed within a closed population

transitive verb

: to cause to breed together

See interbreed defined for English-language learners

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Recent Examples of interbreed from the Web

Some of those clues suggest that interbreeding plays a larger role in the formation of new species than previously thought.

— jordana cepelewicz, Washington Post, "When two different types of birds mated, a new species, Big Bird, was born," 6 Mar. 2018
Another factor in the decreasing wolf population is interbreeding with coyotes.

— doyle rice, USA TODAY, "Red wolves nearing extinction — only 40 left in the wild," 1 May 2018
The birds began interbreeding, swapping their DNA and exchanging genetic traits.

— talia richman, baltimoresun.com, "Two species of ravens? Nevermore, quoth the UMBC professor," 1 May 2018
Those get flagged as potentially having come from interbreeding with another hominin species. Browning and her colleagues developed a new version, which works at a larger scale than the method already being used.

— kiona n. smith, Ars Technica, "Modern humans interbred with Denisovans more than once," 15 Mar. 2018
The data suggest that the ancestors of Native Americans branched off from other East Asian lineages starting at about 35,000 years ago, although the groups continued to interbreed for another 10,000 years.

— john timmer, Ars Technica, "11,000-year-old child’s skeleton tells tale of Native American origins," 3 Jan. 2018
As people from different ancestries interbred, the mutation made its way further afield, into Europe and India.

— carl zimmer, New York Times, "How One Child’s Sickle Cell Mutation Helped Protect the World From Malaria," 8 Mar. 2018
For years, paleogenetic studies have been turning up hints that our species interbred with Neanderthals and Denisovans between 40,000 and 100,000 years ago.

— gemma tarlach, Discover Magazine, "Human Evolution Timeline Topples," 29 Dec. 2017
Did interbreeding during this time period lead to the later fossils found in China?

— author: sarah kaplan, Anchorage Daily News, "The oldest human fossils outside of Africa have been discovered in Israel," 25 Jan. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'interbreed.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

First Known Use of interbreed

1859

in the meaning defined at intransitive sense

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INTERBREED Defined for English Language Learners

interbreed

verb

Definition of interbreed for English Language Learners

: to cause animals of two different species to produce young animals that are a mixture of the two species

Medical Dictionary

interbreed

verb in·ter·breed \ ˌint-ər-ˈbrēd \

medical Definition of interbreed

interbred play \-ˈbred\; interbreeding

intransitive verb

: to breed together: as

a : crossbreed

b : to breed within a closed population

transitive verb

: to cause to breed together

Learn More about interbreed

See words that rhyme with interbreed Spanish Central: Translation of interbreed Nglish: Translation of interbreed for Spanish speakers

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interbreed

Definition of interbreed

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First Known Use of interbreed

INTERBREED Defined for English Language Learners

interbreed

Definition of interbreed for English Language Learners

Medical Dictionary

interbreed

medical Definition of interbreed

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