parasitic
adjective
par·a·sit·ic
| \ ˌper-ə-ˈsi-tik
, ËŒpa-rÉ™-\
, ËŒpa-rÉ™-\
variants:
or less commonly parasitical \ ˌper-ə-ˈsi-ti-kəl
, ËŒpa-rÉ™- \
, ËŒpa-rÉ™- \
Definition of parasitic
1
: of, relating to, or being a parasite: such as
a(1)
: living on another organism in parasitism
Some caterpillars even sport white spots that resemble the eggs of the parasitic wasps that prey upon caterpillars …— Mary Parker Sonis a parasitic yeast/plant Filariasis, caused by parasitic worms in the human lymphatic system and carried in mosquitoes, infects some eighty million people in tropical and subtropical regions of the world.— Wayne Biddle
(2)
: caused by or resulting from the effects of parasites
a parasitic disease/infection
(3)
of a bird
: laying eggs in the nest of another bird
The cowbird and the cuckoo are parasitic birds.
b
: exploiting the hospitality of others : depending on another or others for existence or support without making a useful or adequate return
… manipulated and glorified by self-serving, parasitic northern bureaucrats.— Edward Friedman
2
phonetics
: of, relating to, or constituting a speech sound that is interposed between two other sounds usually as a by-product of transition from one place of articulation to another
The \ə\ in \ˈeləm\ for elm or in \ˈathəˌlēt\ for athlete, the \t\ in \fents\ for fence, and the \b\ and b in \ˈnimbəl\ nimble from Middle English nimel are parasitic.
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Other Words from parasitic
parasitically
\ ˌper-ə-ˈsi-ti-kəl
, ËŒpa-rÉ™- \
adverb
, ËŒpa-rÉ™- \
adverb
During sexually quiescent phase, lampreys live simply, communally or parasitically upon other fish.
— Earl W. Count
… those who live parasitically on the political system …
— John Derbyshire
Examples of parasitic in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The confusion here can be boiled down, according to Akers, to three trends in a post-mortgage housing market: An out of state bulk buyer, using a finicky tool like a land contract and relying on parasitic middle men to facilitate the transactions. — Allie Gross, Detroit Free Press, "Lawsuits take aim at Wayne County's controversial Action Before Auction program," 3 Sep. 2019 Some fires are started to stimulate new growth of nutritious grass for their animals, others are used to control the numbers of parasitic ticks or manage the growth of thorny scrub. — Colin Beale, Quartz Africa, "Scientists say comparing the Amazon rainforest fires to burning grasslands in Africa is misleading," 31 Aug. 2019 Most humans struck with the infection suffer few or no symptoms, and otters that contract less dangerous parasitic strains often emerge relatively unscathed. — Meilan Solly, Smithsonian, "Parasite Spread by House Cats Is Killing California’s Sea Otters," 30 Aug. 2019 Offshore: Small flocks of red-necked phalaropes, parasitic and pomarine jaegers, roseate terns, and larger groups of storm-petrels and shearwaters numbering into the hundreds were seen from Jeffrey’s Ledge. — BostonGlobe.com, "Bird sightings," 4 Aug. 2019 Anglers engage in parasitic mating where male anglers, which are typically much smaller than the females, become permanently fused together. — Daisy Hernandez, Popular Mechanics, "Why the Anglerfish Continues To Haunt Our Dreams," 30 July 2019 The other theory—which Pipitone says is currently most researchers’ favorite—says that clusters of holes are visually similar to rashes or lesions caused by parasitic or infectious diseases. — Natasha Lavender, SELF, "Is Trypophobia Really a Fear of Holes or Something Else Entirely?," 26 July 2019 It was originally developed to tackle breast cancer, but the drug became the leading option to treat another parasitic infection, leishmaniasis. — Beth Mole, Ars Technica, "Brain-eating amoeba kills again—here’s how it kills and how to avoid it," 26 July 2019 These herbs attract beneficial parasitic and predatory wasps that kill bad bugs and larvae. — Thad Orr, Sunset, "Your Essential Gardening To-Do List for April," 22 Jan. 2018These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'parasitic.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for parasitic
parasitic
adjective
English Language Learners Definition of parasitic
of an animal or plant
: living in or on another animal or plant and getting food or protection from it
: caused by a parasite
disapproving
: getting food, money, etc., from other people without doing anything to earn it or deserve it
See the full definition for parasitic in the English Language Learners Dictionary
parasitic
adjective
par·a·sit·ic
| \ ˌper-ə-ˈsi-tik\
Kids Definition of parasitic
: relating to or having the habit of a parasite : caused by parasites
a parasitic worm parasitic diseases
parasitic
adjective
par·a·sit·ic
| \ ˌpar-ə-ˈsit-ik
\
\
variants:
also parasitical \ -i-kəl
\
\
Medical Definition of parasitic
(Entry 1 of 2)
Other Words from parasitic
parasitically
\ -i-k(ə-)lē
\
adverb
\
adverb
parasitic
nounMedical Definition of parasitic (Entry 2 of 2)
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