parasite
Pronunciation Noun
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Pronunciation Noun
parasite (plural parasites)
- (pejorative) A person who lives on other people's efforts or expense and gives little or nothing back. [from 16th c.]
- (pejorative) A sycophant or hanger-on.
- (biology) An organism that lives on or in another organism of a different species, deriving benefit from living on or in that other organism, while not contributing towards that other organism sufficiently to cover the cost to that other organism.
- ''Lice, fleas, ticks and mites are widely spread parasites.;;
- (literary, poetic) A climbing plant which is supported by a wall, trellis etc. [from 19th c.]
- 1813, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Queen Mab, I:
- Her golden tresses shade / The bosom’s stainless pride, / Curling like tendrils of the parasite / Around a marble column.
- 1813, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Queen Mab, I:
- (historical) A retainer or companion of an ancient Celtic warrior, who praised him in song or poetry at gatherings; a bard.
- (useless person) See also Thesaurus:scrounger
- French: parasite, profiteur
- German: Parasit
- Italian: parassita
- Portuguese: parasita
- Russian: парази́т
- Spanish: parásito
- French: parasite
- German: Schmarotzer, Parasit
- Italian: parassita
- Portuguese: parasita
- Russian: парази́т
- Spanish: parásito
This text is extracted from the Wiktionary and it is available under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license | Terms and conditions | Privacy policy 0.004