| |
parasite
(par´ә-sīt)
a plant or animal that lives upon or within another living organism at whose expense it obtains some advantage; see also symbiosis. Parasites include multicelled and single-celled animals, fungi, and bacteria, and some authorities also include viruses.
Those that feed upon human hosts can cause diseases ranging from the mildly annoying to the severe or even fatal. adj., parasit´ic., adj.
parasitic fetus.

Copyright 2007. An Elsevier publication. All rights reserved.
Click here for important legal information about Dorland's Medical Dictionary.
|