interbreed
verb
in·ter·breed
| \ ˌin-tər-ˈbrēd
\
\
interbred\ ˌin-tər-ˈbred
\;
interbreeding
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interbreeding
Definition of interbreed
: to cause to breed together
Examples of interbreed in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
At some point, the wolf interbred with a domestic dog breed, passing along the unique mountaineering gene that persists in the Tibetan mastiff to this day. — Jason Daley, Smithsonian, "Wolves Gave Tibetan Mastiffs Their Mountaineering Genes," 9 Sep. 2019 Denisovans not only interbred with Neanderthals, but with archaic Eurasian humans as well. — Ashley Strickland, CNN, "Neanderthal-like human relatives had hands similar to modern humans, study says," 5 Sep. 2019 But in the Big Bird story, interbreeding can actually generate something new. — Quanta Magazine, "Watching Evolution Happen in Two Lifetimes," 22 Sep. 2016 Recent research suggests the EPAS1 variant was inherited from another archaic hominin through interbreeding more than 45,000 years ago. — Bridget Alex, Discover Magazine, "The World Is Our Niche," 3 June 2019 Neanderthal jigsaw Past research had suggested that Neanderthals seemed to be genetically well mixed, interbreeding across Europe and into Asia. — Maya Wei-haas, National Geographic, "Ancient DNA reveals new twists in Neanderthal migration," 26 June 2019 New species arose when populations built up mutations that made interbreeding impossible. — Quanta Magazine, "Scientists Seek to Update Evolution," 22 Nov. 2016 The scientists speculated that our species reached Europe at least 270,000 years ago and interbred with Neanderthals there. — Carl Zimmer, New York Times, "A Skull Bone Discovered in Greece May Alter the Story of Human Prehistory," 10 July 2019 But that doesn’t necessarily set in stone that those genes came from interbreeding between the Neanderthals and the ancestors of Europeans. — Jordana Cepelewicz, WIRED, "Clues to Our Unknown Ancestors Are Hiding in Our Genome," 10 Feb. 2019These 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.
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More Definitions for interbreed
interbreed
verb
English Language Learners Definition of interbreed
: to cause animals of two different species to produce young animals that are a mixture of the two species
See the full definition for interbreed in the English Language Learners Dictionary
interbreed
verb
in·ter·breed
| \ ˌint-ər-ˈbrēd
\
\
interbred\ -ˈbred
\;
interbreeding
\;
interbreeding
Medical Definition of interbreed
: to cause to breed together