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cleptobiosis

American

[klep-toh-bahy-oh-sis] / ˌklɛp toʊ baɪˈoʊ sɪs /

noun

an ecological relationship in which members of one species, as of ants, steal food from another.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

cleptobiotic

adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

cleptobioses

plural

Etymology

Origin of cleptobiosis

< Greek klépt ( ein ) to steal + -o- + -biosis

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.