PARASITES

Noun

parasites

plural of parasite

Anagrams

• asperitas, aspirates, pastieras, satrapies

Source: Wiktionary


PARASITE

Par"a*site, n. Etym: [F., fr. L. parasitus, Gr.

1. One who frequents the tables of the rich, or who lives at another's expense, and earns his welcome by flattery; a hanger-on; a toady; a sycophant. Thou, with trembling fear, Or like a fawning parasite, obey'st. Milton. Parasites were called such smell-feasts as would seek to be free guests at rich men's tables. Udall.

2. (Bot.) (a) A plant obtaining nourishment immediately from other plants to which it attaches itself, and whose juices it absorbs; -- sometimes, but erroneously, called epiphyte. (b) A plant living on or within an animal, and supported at its expense, as many species of fungi of the genus Torrubia.

3. (Zoöl.) (a) An animal which lives during the whole or part of its existence on or in the body of some other animal, feeding upon its food, blood, or tissues, as lice, tapeworms, etc. (b) An animal which steals the food of another, as the parasitic jager. (c) An animal which habitually uses the nest of another, as the cowbird and the European cuckoo.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



RESET




Word of the Day

3 July 2024

DITHER

(noun) an excited state of agitation; “he was in a dither”; “there was a terrible flap about the theft”


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