interbreed
verb
in·ter·breed
| \ ˌin-tər-ˈbrēd
\
\
interbred\ ˌin-tər-ˈbred
\;
interbreeding
\;
interbreeding
Definition of interbreed
: to cause to breed together
Examples of interbreed in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
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. 2019 Indeed, the influx of fresh DNA that came from interbreeding with modern humans likely slowed the Neanderthals’ decline. — Quanta Magazine, "The Downside to Neanderthal DNA," 14 June 2016 More detailed analysis, though, shows that on the way through these places some of those ancestral humans interbred with other human species, now extinct, including Neanderthals. — The Economist, "The oldest known Homo sapiens outside Africa was Greek," 11 July 2019 Harvati points out that some Neanderthal genomes preserve a trace of an interbreeding event with H. sapiens that took place before 200,000 years ago, a sign that our ancestors must have entered Neanderthal territory early, before vanishing again. — Lizzie Wade, Science | AAAS, "Skull fragment from Greek cave suggests modern humans were in Europe more than 200,000 years ago," 10 July 2019 Neanderthals interbred with ancestors of today's Europeans when modern humans began spreading out of Africa. — Fox News, "Some of oldest Neanderthal bones have been DNA tested showing more than 70 differences," 26 June 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
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