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parasite

pa·ra·site

UK/ˈpæɹəˌsaɪt/ US/ˈpæɹəˌsaɪt/ fairly common informal literary

noun

1.

an animal or plant that lives in or on a host (another animal or plant); the parasite obtains nourishment from the host without benefiting or killing the host

Antonyms
2.

a follower who hangs around a host (without benefit to the host) in hope of gain or advantage

Synonyms

Origin

From Middle French parasite, from Latin parasitus, from Ancient Greek παράσιτος (parásitos, “person who eats at the table of another”), from noun use of adjective meaning "feeding beside", from παρά (pará, “beside”) + σῖτος (sîtos, “food”).

Phrases

  • brood parasite
  • parasite aircraft
  • welfare parasite
  • wound parasite

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WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.