cross-pollination
Botany. the transfer of pollen from the flower of one plant to the flower of a plant having a different genetic constitution.: Compare self-pollination.
a sharing or interchange of knowledge, ideas, etc., as for mutual enrichment; cross-fertilization.
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Origin of cross-pollination
1Words Nearby cross-pollination
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use cross-pollination in a sentence
Do you want to see more cross-pollination between Spidey and the other characters in the Marvel universe, like The Avengers?
Marc Webb Takes Us Inside ‘The Amazing Spider-Man 2’ and Discusses His Rise to the A-List | Marlow Stern | March 15, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTWhat are your experiences, from the practical publishing side, of your diversity of book types and cross-pollination of genres?
Plus there's just lots of international cross-pollination among these firms.
All this cross-pollination prompted Politico on Tuesday to question whether Obama and Facebook are getting too cozy.
To make sure of cross pollination nature has in some cases placed the stamens and pistils in different flowers on the same plant.
The First Book of Farming | Charles L. Goodrich
This observation demonstrated the necessity of great care to prevent cross-pollination.
The Vegetable Garden | AnonymousIn the first place we have the cross-pollination leading to the formation of the hybrid plant by cross-fertilisation.
Disease in Plants | H. Marshall WardChestnuts rarely set any nuts that produce mature seed from their own pollen but depend on cross-pollination.
Growing Nuts in the North | Carl WeschckeBy careful selection and cross pollination many and better varieties will be produced.
Walnut Growing in Oregon | Various
British Dictionary definitions for cross-pollination
the transfer of pollen from the anthers of one flower to the stigma of another flower by the action of wind, insects, etc: Compare self-pollination
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Scientific definitions for cross-pollination
The transfer of pollen from the male reproductive organ (an anther or a male cone) of one plant to the female reproductive organ (a stigma or a female cone) of another plant. Insects and wind are the main agents of cross-pollination. Most plants reproduce by cross-pollination, which increases the genetic diversity of a population (increases the number of heterozygous individuals). Mechanisms that promote cross-pollination include having male flowers on one plant and female flowers on another, having pollen mature before the stigmas on the same plant are chemically receptive to being pollinated, and having anatomical arrangements (such as stigmas that are taller than anthers) that make self-pollination less likely.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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