| Parasite | n. [ F., fr. L. parasitus, Gr. para`sitos, lit., eating beside, or at the table of, another; para` beside + sitei^n to feed, from sitos wheat, grain, food. ] [ 1913 Webster ] 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. [ 1913 Webster ] Thou, with trembling fear,
Or like a fawning parasite, obey'st. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ] Parasites were called such smell-feasts as would seek to be free guests at rich men's tables. Udall. [ 1913 Webster ] 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. [ 1913 Webster ] 3. (Zool.) (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. [ 1913 Webster ] |
