interbreed
verb
in·ter·breed
ˌin-tər-ˈbrēd 
interbred
ˌin-tər-ˈbred
; interbreeding
; interbreeding
: to cause to breed together
Examples of interbreed in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The skull of a child found in the Skhul Cave on Mount Carmel suggested that interbreeding between Neanderthals and Homo sapiens may date to as early as 140,000 years ago.
—
Rafil Kroll-Zaidi, Harpers Magazine, 29 Oct. 2025
Yunxian 2 provides a clearer example of an earlier lineage, suggesting that several major human lineages—Homo sapiens, Neanderthals, and sister species like Homo longi—may have co-existed for hundreds of thousands of years, interacting and potentially interbreeding.
—Maria Mocerino, Interesting Engineering, 27 Sep. 2025
Neanderthals, archaic humans who lived in Europe and Central Asia before disappearing around 40,000 years ago, are known to have lived alongside the Denisovans and interbred with them.
—Katie Hunt, CNN Money, 25 Sep. 2025
So a team of researchers analyzed genetic data from nearly 5,000 individuals living in the last few decades, spanning every inhabited continent, and identified 126 cases where those individuals’ ancestry indicated interbreeding between two distinct populations at some point in the past.
—Cody Cottier, Scientific American, 18 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for interbreed
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Rafil Kroll-Zaidi, Harpers Magazine, 29 Oct. 2025
Yunxian 2 provides a clearer example of an earlier lineage, suggesting that several major human lineages—Homo sapiens, Neanderthals, and sister species like Homo longi—may have co-existed for hundreds of thousands of years, interacting and potentially interbreeding.
—Maria Mocerino, Interesting Engineering, 27 Sep. 2025
Neanderthals, archaic humans who lived in Europe and Central Asia before disappearing around 40,000 years ago, are known to have lived alongside the Denisovans and interbred with them.
—Katie Hunt, CNN Money, 25 Sep. 2025
So a team of researchers analyzed genetic data from nearly 5,000 individuals living in the last few decades, spanning every inhabited continent, and identified 126 cases where those individuals’ ancestry indicated interbreeding between two distinct populations at some point in the past.
—Cody Cottier, Scientific American, 18 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for interbreed
Cite this Entry
“Interbreed.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/interbreed. Accessed 4 Nov. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
Medical Definition
interbreed
verb
in·ter·breed
ˌint-ər-ˈbrēd
interbred
-ˈbred
; interbreeding
; interbreeding
: to cause to breed together
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