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definitive host

American  

noun

Zoology.

  1. the host in or on which a parasite spends the sexual stage of its life cycle.

definitive host Scientific  
/ dĭ-fĭn′ĭ-tĭv /

  1. See under host

Etymology

Origin of definitive host

First recorded in 1900–05

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.