intercross

From inter- + cross.

intercross (third-person singular simple present intercrosses, present participle intercrossing, simple past and past participle intercrossed)

1. To cross back over one another
   • 1895, Jules Verne, Captain Antifer‎^[1], page 134:

     From this trunk, like a tower, rose an enormous tenfold ramification, the branches of which crossed and intercrossed, and forked and developed, […]

2. (biology, genetics) To breed two strains having a common ancestry with one another
   • 1916, Alfred Russel Wallace, Letters and Reminiscences, Vol. 1‎^[2]:

     A species varies occasionally in two directions, but owing to their free intercrossing they (the variations) never increase.

intercross (plural intercrosses)

1. (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^[3], →ISBN, page 20:

     Intercrosses are particularly useful with recessive mutations maintained in a small colony.

• backcross
• outcross

intercross m (uncountable)

1. (sports) lacrosse