inbreed
verb
in·breed
| \ ˈin-ˈbrēd
\
\
inbred\ ˈin-ˈbred
\;
inbreeding
\;
inbreeding
Examples of inbreed in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Self-fertilization, like inbreeding in animals, should pair up harmful recessive mutations, so Schwoch expected the crosses that used pollen from one stem on flowers from another to do better. — Elizabeth Pennisi, Science | AAAS, "Meet the monkeyflower, a weed that may hold the key to zebra stripes and other biological mysteries," 29 Aug. 2019 Many scientists believe mating types evolved early in life’s history as a barrier against behaviors like inbreeding that might be harmful to a population or species. — Quanta Magazine, "Why Nature Prefers Couples, Even for Yeast," 17 July 2018 And as their faces got smaller, our ancestors became more social; groups of Neanderthals and other ancient humans seem to have inbred frequently, but among modern humans, there was much more contact between different groups. — Brigit Katz, Smithsonian, "Expressive Eyebrows May Have Given Modern Humans an Evolutionary Edge," 10 Apr. 2018 For cancer research, this meant a stable breeding strain by which to study the biological and genetic nature of cancer in mice inbred with cancerous tumors—a realization that has defined mouse model research to this day. — Leila Mcneill, Smithsonian, "The History of Breeding Mice for Science Begins With a Woman in a Barn," 20 Mar. 2018 Decimated by inbreeding, the spotted wildcat’s future depends very much on mingling with its Mexican cousins. — Jeremy Schwartz, ajc, "Trump's border wall threatens endangered Texas ocelot," 31 Mar. 2018 There is evidence that when breeders select for white lions—a practice that almost always necessitates inbreeding—the animals will eventually start to show defects. — National Geographic, "Rare White Lion Cub Seen in South Africa," 27 Mar. 2018 Researchers hypothesized reasons for this selection ranging from the prevention of inbreeding to promoting offspring with greater diversity of dominant and recessive genes. — Jackie Mansky, Smithsonian, "The Dubious Science of Genetics-Based Dating," 15 Feb. 2018 The fear is the lions could eventually go extinct from inbreeding. — sacbee, "California voters banned mountain lion hunting three decades ago, but the shooting never stopped," 3 Nov. 2017These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'inbreed.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for inbreed
inbreed
verb
in·breed
| \ ˈin-ˈbrēd
\
\
inbred\ -ˈbred \;
inbreeding
Kids Definition of inbreed
: to breed with closely related individuals
inbreed
verb
in·breed
| \ ˈin-ˈbrēd
\
\
inbred\ -ˈbred
\;
inbreeding
\;
inbreeding