Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Intercross
Inˊter-cross′
(?; 115)
, Verb.
T.
& I.
[
imp. & p. p.
Intercrossed
; p. pr. & vb. n.
Intercrossing
.] 1.
To cross each other, as lines.
2.
(Biol.)
To fertilize by the impregnation of one species or variety by another; to impregnate by a different species or variety.
In′ter-crossˊ
,Noun.
The process or result of cross fertilization between different kinds of animals, or different varieties of plants.
We have reason to believe that occasional
intercrosses
take place with all animals and plants. Darwin.
Definition 2024
intercross
intercross
English
Verb
intercross (third-person singular simple present intercrosses, present participle intercrossing, simple past and past participle intercrossed)
- To cross back over one another
- 1895, Jules Verne, Captain Antifer, page 134:
- From this trunk, like a tower, rose an enormous tenfold ramification, the branches of which crossed and intercrossed, and forked and developed, […]
-
- (biology, genetics) To breed two strains having a common ancestry with one another
- 1916, Alfred Russel Wallace, Letters and Reminiscences, Vol. 1:
- A species varies occasionally in two directions, but owing to their free intercrossing they (the variations) never increase.
-
Noun
intercross (plural intercrosses)
- (biology, genetics) The act or product of intercrossing
- 2000, Xavier Montagutelli, “Determining the Genetic Basis of a New Trait”, in Sundberg & Boggess, editors, Systematic Approach to Evaluation of Mouse Mutations, ISBN 0849319056, page 20:
- Intercrosses are particularly useful with recessive mutations maintained in a small colony.
-