▪ I. ˈcross-ˈbreed, v.
[cross adv.]
To breed across the lines which separate varieties or races; to breed (animals or plants) from individuals of different species or races. Hence ˈcross-ˌbreeding vbl. n.
| 1675 Wycherley Country Wife ii. i, They are come to think cross breeding for themselves best, as well as for their dogs and horses. 1932 Discovery Mar. 73/2 There was a certain amount of selection and cross breeding [of crops] towards the end of the nineteenth century. 1955 Sci. News Let. 23 July 50 That individual is separated from the rest, then bred and cross-bred to develop a pure-breeding strain. 1955 Bull. Atomic Sci. Sept. 242 FAO technicians are cross-breeding the rice strain Japonica..with the native Indica species of Southeast Asia and India. |
▪ II. cross-breed, n.
(ˈkrɒsbriːd, ˈkrɔːs-)
[Cf. prec. and cross a.]
A breed of animals (or plants) produced by crossing; a mongrel or hybrid breed; transf. an animal of such a breed. Also fig.
| 1774 Wilkes Corr. (1805) IV. 185 The family of monsieur Louvet..emigrated to England; and made a cross-breed with those who [etc.]. 1844 Disraeli Coningsby iii. v, It seems to me a barren thing, this Conservatism, an unhappy cross-breed; the mule of politics that engenders nothing. 1890 Spectator 13 Dec., Both prizes for the cross-breeds were won by crosses of shorthorn with the Scotch breeds. |