The "usual sense of the word" is a politically charged and unscientific one. There is nothing special about merging genes in a lab versus merging genes by forcing plants to grow together in a field. The end result is the same: a hybrid plant.

I don't find this argument convincing. That's like saying, there's nothing special in the Manhattan project, we could as well try putting different combinations of materials in the same room and wait for them to randomly recombine into an atomic bomb.

The article specifically talks about taking genes from bacteria (tolerance to certain chemicals, for instance) and splicing it into crops. This isn't quite the same as cross pollination.

From the submitted article: "Today, it’s estimated that 92 percent of American corn and 94 percent of American soybeans are GMOs, almost all of it produced by Monsanto or DuPont Pioneer, and again, nearly half of the seed sold globally."