hybridize

verb

hy·​brid·​ize ˈhī-brə-ˌdīz 

hybridized; hybridizing

transitive verb

: to cause to produce hybrids : interbreed

intransitive verb

: to produce hybrids

hybridization

ˌhī-brə-də-ˈzā-shən 

noun

hybridizer noun

Examples of hybridize in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Our study suggests that scrub mints hybridized during a geological period known as the Pleistocene, which lasted from about 11,700 to 2.58 million years ago. —Andre A. Naranjo, The Conversation, 6 Jan. 2025

Still others are exploiting new superconductors or hybridizing the mainstream concepts. —IEEE Spectrum, 28 Jan. 2020

There are two hybridizing subspecies with different colored bills. —Simon Griffith, JSTOR Daily, 5 Dec. 2024

Seeds from heirloom vegetables — those that have not been hybridized or otherwise manipulated — can be saved from year to year and counted on to produce crops similar to their mother. —Jessica Damiano, San Diego Union-Tribune, 26 Jan. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1845, in the meaning defined at transitive sense

Kids Definition

hybridize

verb

hy·​brid·​ize ˈhī-brə-ˌdīz 

hybridized; hybridizing

: to produce or cause to produce hybrids : interbreed

hybridization

ˌhī-brəd-ə-ˈzā-shən 

noun

hybridizer

ˈhī-brə-ˌdī-zər

noun

Medical Definition

hybridize

verb

hy·​brid·​ize

variants also British hybridise

ˈhī-brə-ˌdīz 

hybridized also British hybridised; hybridizing also British hybridising

transitive verb

: to cause to interbreed or combine so as to produce hybrids

hybridize two species

fuse and hybridize somatic cells of two different species

hybridize two DNAs

intransitive verb

: to produce hybrids

hybridization noun

also British hybridisation

ˌhī-brəd-ə-ˈzā-shən 

hybridizer noun

also British hybridiser