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Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary par·a·site
\\ˈper-ə-ˌsīt, ˈpa-rə-\\ noun ETYMOLOGY Middle French, from Latin parasitus, from Greek parasitos, from para- + sitos grain, food DATE 1539 1. a person who exploits the hospitality of the rich and earns welcome by flattery2. an organism living in, with, or on another organism in parasitism3. something that resembles a biological parasite in dependence on something else for existence or support without making a useful or adequate return
• par·a·sit·ic \\ˌper-ə-ˈsi-tik, ˌpa-rə-\\ also par·a·sit·i·cal \\-ti-kəl\\ adjective
• par·a·sit·i·cal·ly \\-ti-k(ə-)lē\\ adverbSynonyms.
parasite , sycophant , toady , leech , sponge mean a usually obsequious flatterer or self-seeker. parasite applies to one who clings to a person of wealth, power, or influence or is useless to society
a jet-setter with an entourage of parasites
sycophant adds to this a strong suggestion of fawning, flattery, or adulation
a powerful prince surrounded by sycophants
toady emphasizes the servility and snobbery of the self-seeker
cultivated leaders of society and became their toady
leech stresses persistence in clinging to or bleeding another for one's own advantage
a leech living off his family and friends
sponge stresses the parasitic laziness, dependence, and opportunism of the cadger
a shiftless sponge, always looking for a handout parasite
1539, "a hanger-on, a toady, "person who lives on others," from M.Fr. parasite, from L. parasitus, from Gk. parasitos "person who eats at the table of another," from n. use of adj. meaning "feeding beside," from para- "beside" + sitos "food," of unknown origin. Scientific meaning "animal or plant that lives on others" is first recorded 1646 (implied in parasitical). Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary-牛津双解-OALD7 parasite
para·site / 5pArEsait / noun1. a small animal or plant that lives on or inside another animal or plant and gets its food from it
寄生生物；寄生虫；寄生植物
2. (disapproving) a person who always relies on or benefits from other people and gives nothing back
寄生虫；依赖他人过活者 Oxford Collocations Dictionary for Students of English Oxford Collocations dictionary for students of Englishparasite
noun ADJ. common | dangerous These flies carry a dangerous parasite. | external, internal | intestinal VERB + PARASITE carry, have Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged par·a·siteI. \ˈparəˌsīt also ˈper-, usu -īd.+V\ noun
( -s) Etymology: Middle French, from Latin parasitus, from Greek parasitos, from para- ˈpara- + sitos grain, bread, food 1.
a. : one frequenting the tables of the rich or living at another's expense and earning welcome by flattery or diversion
b. : one of a class of assistants in ancient Greek religious rites who dine with the priests after a sacrifice 2.
a. : an organism living in or on another living organism, obtaining from it part or all of its organic nutriment, and commonly exhibiting some degree of adaptive structural modification — compare autophyte , saprophyte
b. : such an organism that causes some degree of real damage to its host — compare commensal , inquiline , symbiont 3. : something that resembles a biological parasite in dependence on something else for existence or support without making a useful or adequate return
< resourceful public enemies, parasites on the free-press privilege, who thrive on the profits derived from the exploitation of current pornographic materials — U.S. House of Repr. Report >
< the great city is a parasite on the country — François Bondy >
< foiled at one market, they move on to another … parasites on society, until justice catches up with them — Irish Digest >
< the young girl is still left incapable of making a living; she can only vegetate as a parasite in her father's home — H.M.Parshley >
< new friends who had faith in her ideas, as well as new parasites who hoped to profit by them — Havelock Ellis >4. : a parasitic sound or letter 5. : the less perfectly formed twin of a double monster — compare autosite Synonyms:
parasite , sycophant , favorite , toady , lickspit , lickspittle , bootlick , bootlicker , hanger-on , leech , sponge , and sponger all signify one that is supported or sustained or seeks support or sustenance, usually physical but sometimes social or intellectual, from another without right or justification. parasite applies to one that as a matter of policy is supported more or less by another and gives nothing in return, extending commonly to anyone who clings to a person of wealth, power, or influence in order to derive personal advantage or who is useless and unnecessary to society
< the ones who evade the earth and live upon the others in some way they have devised. They are the parasites, and they are the despised — Pearl Buck >
< a court society ridden with parasites >
< as our present society disintegrates, this démodé figure will become clearer; the Bohemian, the outsider, the parasite, the rat — one of those figures which have at present no function either in a warring or peaceful world — E.M.Forster >
< the poorer citizens were little more than parasites, fed with free state bread, amused by free state shows — John Buchan >
sycophant applies to one that clings to a person of wealth, power, or influence and wins or tries to win his favor by fawning, flattery, or adulation
< a man who rose in this world because he curried favor, a sycophant — Kenneth Roberts >
< sycophants who kept him from wholesome contact with reality, who played upon his overweening conceit and confirmed him in his persecutional manias — H.A.Overstreet >
favorite applies to a close associate or intimate of a king or noble who is unduly favored by him, especially with power
< huge grants of land to court favorites — W.C.Ford >
< reduced to the ranks every officer who had a good record and appointed scoundrelly favorites of his own in their places — Robert Graves >
< Pharaoh, his family and his favorites — J.E.M.White >
toady , often interchangeable with sycophant , stresses more the servility and snobbery of the social climber
< he preens himself in the velvet coat, he spies out the land and sees that the Dowager is “the one”; he becomes the perfect toady — Stevie Smith >
< this induced a sharp distaste for the flagrant political plunder, the obscene scramble for the loaves and fishes by the spoilsmen and their toadies — Sidney Warren >
lickspit and lickspittle and bootlick and bootlicker are interchangeable in common speech with sycophant and toady , implying, however, even stronger contemptibleness
< characterized those who disagreed as lickspittles and toadies of official whiggery — Asahel Bush >
< a lickspittle humility that went beyond flattery — Alan Moorehead >
< bootlicks hanging around the mayor's office >
< its principal characters were stupid and bemused commanders, or vicious bootlickers tainted with homosexuality — Horace Sutton >
hanger-on applies to anyone who is regarded, usually contemptuously, as adhering to or depending unduly on another especially for favors
< there were the hangers-on who might be called domestics by inheritance — T.R.Ybarra >
< a hanger-on at Court, waiting for the preferment that somehow eluded him — Times Literary Supplement >
< those rather hangers-on than friends, whom he treated with the cynical contempt that they deserved — Robert Graves >
leech stresses the persistence of clinging to or bleeding another for one's own advantage
< hatred for the freeloader or deadbeat. Yet, as a student of humanity, he tolerated these leeches — H.E.Maule & M.H.Cane >
< a leech living off his family and friends >
sponge or sponger stress a parasitic laziness, dependence, and indifference to the discomforts caused and usually a certain pettiness and constant regard for opportunities to cadge
< a sponge who developed the habit of dropping in for a visit just before mealtimes >
< a girl whose disappointment with the world has made her the prey of an unsuccessful crook and sponger — Times Literary Supplement >II. verb
( -ed/-ing/-s) intransitive verb: to act as a parasite transitive verb: to cause to act as a parasite : parasitize
Search result show the entry is found in: malaria parasite , or parasite drag , or pond-scum parasite , or wound parasite , or parasite resistance , or egg parasite |