parasitize

American  

[par-uh-si-tahyz, -sahy-] / ˈpær ə sɪˌtaɪz, -saɪ- /

especially British, parasitise

verb (used with object)

parasitized, parasitizing

1. to live on (a host) as a parasite.

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parasitize British  

/ -saɪ-, ˈpærəsɪˌtaɪz /

verb

1. to infest or infect with parasites

2. to live on (another organism) as a parasite

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Other Word Forms

• unparasitized adjective

Etymology

Origin of parasitize

First recorded in 1885–90; parasite + -ize

Example Sentences

"They parasitize the shells of bivalves like oysters, not the flesh of the animals themselves," said Nanglu.

From Science Daily • Nov. 5, 2025

Some kinds benefit the soil, but others parasitize crops, inflicting more than $100 billion in losses worldwide each year.

From Science Magazine • May 25, 2023

As science journalist Rachel Nuwer writes, as many as 40 to 50 percent of all animal species are parasites, and almost every other species has at least one parasite that has evolved to parasitize it.

From Scientific American • Apr. 19, 2022

The birds sometimes raise their eggs in cooperative groups and sometimes parasitize other species’ nests.

From Nature • Feb. 24, 2019

Two roundworms were found to parasitize the guts of the salamanders; the parasitism looks to be benign.

From Natural History of the Salamander, Aneides hardii by Johnston, Richard F.