The Collaborative International Dictionary
cross-pollination \cross-pollination\ n. fertilization by transfer of pollen from the anthers of one flower to the stigma of another.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
also cross pollination, 1882, from cross- + pollination.
Wiktionary
n. 1 (context botany English) fertilization by the transfer of pollen from an anther of one plant to a stigma of another 2 Inspiration, stimulation or influence between diverse elements
WordNet
n. fertilization by transfer of pollen from the anthers of one flower to the stigma of another [ant: self-pollination]
stimulating influence among diverse elements; "the cross-pollination of the arts"
Usage examples of "cross-pollination".
Addison and Markham, in a paper published in the April 2002 issue of theJournal of Biomechanics, stated that cross-pollination by genetically modified corn had been shown to extend several miles beyond the target field.
The high and low cuisines of hundreds of planets, along with bastardizations and cross-pollinations added their smells to the air.
It was simply accepted as an article of faith that cross-pollination was good for something, and so the best and brightest officers were taken away from their professional specialties and dropped into things which they knew not the first thing about.
Musical scenes often developed in cities through a fertile cross-pollination of ideas, influences and personnel, such as the Madchester phenomenon of the early Nineties, or the Bromley contingent that was an incestuous nucleus for The Banshees, The Ants, The Cure, The Creatures, Gen X, PiL and others.
That occasional cross-pollination occurred not only between individuals of the same species, but also between related species to produce interspecific hybrids.