parasite
American Heritage Dictionary:
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par·a·site
(păr'ə-sīt') 
n.
n.
- Biology. An organism that grows, feeds, and is sheltered on or in a different organism while contributing nothing to the survival of its host.
- One who habitually takes advantage of the generosity of others without making any useful return.
- One who lives off and flatters the rich; a sycophant.
- A professional dinner guest, especially in ancient Greece.
[Latin parasītus, a person who lives by amusing the rich, from Greek parasītos, person who eats at someone else's table, parasite : para-, beside; see para-1 + sītos, grain, food.]
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parasite
Roget's Thesaurus:
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parasite
noun
- One who depends on another for support without reciprocating: bloodsucker, hanger-on, leech, sponge. Slang freeloader. See dependence/independence.
Antonyms by Answers.com:
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parasite
n
Definition: leech
Antonyms: host
n
Definition: something which sucks everything out of another
Antonyms: blessing
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parasite (parasītos), in Greek, originally ‘fellow-diner’, ‘guest’. In the Old Comedy of the fifth century BC it had acquired the pejorative sense of ‘sponger’, one who earns a meal by flattering and humouring his host. To judge from surviving titles, the parasite often played a leading role in Middle Comedy; in New Comedy he is a stock character, the companion of another of the same, the boastful soldier, whose vanity he flatters in return for being kept. The names of notorious parasites in real life appear in some comedies. See COMEDY, GREEK.
Columbia Encyclopedia:
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parasite
parasite, plant or animal that at some stage of its existence obtains its nourishment from another living organism called the host. Parasites may or may not harm the host, but they never benefit it. They include members of many plant and animal groups, and nearly all living things are at some time hosts to parasitic forms. Many bacteria are parasitic on external and internal body surfaces; some of these invade the inner tissues and cause disease (e.g., typhoid fever, tuberculosis, and some types of pneumonia). Parasitic plants cause great losses among food crops and trees (see diseases of plants). Parasites are more prevalent in the animal and protist kingdoms; most are invertebrates, chiefly worms, e.g., the fluke, tapeworm, and trichina (see trichinosis); arthropods, e.g., the flea and louse; and protozoans. Among the protozoan parasites that cause human disease are Amoeba (or Entamoeba) histolytica, the cause of amebic dysentery and liver abscess, and the several species of Plasmodium responsible for the three main types of malaria.
Most parasites are obligate; i.e., they are unable to survive apart from their hosts. Often this is because in the course of evolution they have lost various of the organs necessary to live as independent units. Many parasites also have extremely specialized reproductive systems and complex life cycles, involving more than one host. Some higher plants and animals are parasitic, e.g., the dodders (vines of the morning glory family) and the cuckoo and the cowbird, which lay their eggs in the nests of other birds.
An epiphyte, or air plant, although it lives in association with another plant, is not a parasite. Organisms that obtain their nourishment from dead organic matter, e.g., mushrooms, are called saprophytes or saprobes. See also symbiosis.
Bibliography
See R. Drisdelle, Parasites (2010).
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An organism that lives off or in another organism, obtaining nourishment and protection while offering no benefit in return. Human parasites are often harmful to the body and can cause diseases, such as trichinosis.
Taylor's Dictionary for Gardeners:
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parasite
A plant that steals all its food from another, to which it is attached and which it typically injures. Tree-perching plants such as orchids and bromeliads are often mistakenly called parasites; they are actually epiphytes. Mistletoe, witch grass, and dodder are parasites, as are many fungi.
Word Tutor:
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parasite
IN BRIEF: A plant or animal that lives on or in another plant or animal and gets food from it (e.g. fleas). Also: a person who lives at another's expense without paying that person back in any way.
The really serious things are earning one's living so as not to be a parasite and loving one's neighbor.
— W.H. Auden (1907-1973), Anglo-American poet.
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The Dream Encyclopedia:
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Parasites
Parasites are straightforward symbols for people who seek nourishment from others but who give nothing in return. Sometimes perfectly normal behavior can be experienced as parasitic. Parasites in a dream could refer to others who drain us, or representations of projects and activities that we feel "drain" our time.
Wiley Dictionary of Flavors:
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Parasite
An organism that lives off another (host) and gains sustenance from it. Parasites can usually be killed by freezing. Sashimi and sushi are typically prepared by fish that was first frozen to kill harmful parasites
Examples of parasites follow:
- Protozoa - Toxoplasma - From eating undercooked pork and lamb. Also potentially contracted from infected cats.
- Cryptosporidium - Raw produce, cider from contaminated apples.
- Cyclospora - Imported raspberries, salad greens, basil.
- Giardia - Number one cause of parasitic diarrhea. There are an estimated 2 million cases per year.
- Worms - Flat worms:
- Trematodes.
- Clonorchis.
- Liver fluke from raw fish.
- Fasciola - Liver fluke from unwashed salad greens. Both have been associated with liver cancer.
- Trematodes.
- Worms - Tape Worms:
- Taenia/Pork Tapeworm: Can grow up to 15 feet long. Lives inside the intestines.
- Diphyllobothrium/Fish Tapeworm: Can grow up to 30 feet long
- A style of cooking.
- Spice Parisienne includes a mixture of the following: white pepper, allspice, mace, nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon, bay leaves, sage, marjoram, and rosemary. See Culinary Arts.
Oxford Dictionary of Biochemistry:
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parasite
any organism that spends all or part of its life cycle in (endoparasite) or on (ectoparasite) another living organism of a different species (its host), from which it obtains nourishment and/or protection, and to which it is usually detrimental. Compare symbiont.
| paraproteinemia, paraprotein, paraplegin | |
| parastatin, paratartaric acid, parathion |
Saunders Veterinary Dictionary:
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parasite
A plant or animal that lives upon or within another living organism at whose expense it obtains some advantage. See also symbiosis.
Among the many parasites in nature, some feed upon animal hosts, causing diseases ranging from the mildly annoying to the severe and often fatal. Parasites include multicelled and single-celled animals, fungi and bacteria. Viruses are sometimes considered to be parasites. However, the commonest use of the word refers to the multicellular helminth, arachnid, crustacean (copepod) and arthropod parasites.
- accidental p. — one that parasitizes an organism other than the usual host.
- facultative p. — one that may be parasitic upon another organism but can exist independently.
- incidental p. — accidental parasite.
- obligate p., obligatory p. — one that is entirely dependent upon a host for its survival.
- periodic p. — one that parasitizes a host for short periods.
- temporary p. — one that lives free of its host during part of its life cycle.
Mosby's Dental Dictionary:
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parasite
n
An organism living in or on and obtaining nourishment from another organism.
Random House Word Menu:
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categories related to 'parasite'
- Diagnostic Terminology - parasite: organism that lives in or on another living organism while contributing nothing to host’s welfare, often causing irritation or interfering with function
- Environment, Ecology, and Animal Behavior - parasite: organism that lives in or on host from which it obtains nourishment
- Morality or Character
See crossword solutions for the clue Translations:
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Parasite
Français (French)
n. - (lit, fig) parasite
Deutsch (German)
n. - Parasit, Schmarotzer
Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - παράσιτο
Português (Portuguese)
n. - parasita (m) (Biol.), bajulador (m)
Español (Spanish)
n. - parásito
Svenska (Swedish)
n. - parasit, snyltgäst
中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
寄生虫, 食客
中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 寄生蟲, 食客
한국어 (Korean)
n. - 기생동물, 식객, 어릿광대
日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 寄生動物, 寄生虫, 居候, 寄生生物
العربيه (Arabic)
(الاسم) الطفيلي, من يقحم نفسه على موائد الغرباء من دعوة, من يكسب رزقه بالتملق, حيوان أو نبات طفيلي, العاله
עברית (Hebrew)
n. - טפיל, פרזיט, הגה או אות המתפתחים מהגה או אות סמוכים (בלשנות)
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American Heritage Dictionary
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