Dictionary.com

definitive host

Save This Word!

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

COMPARE MEANINGS

Click for a side-by-side comparison of meanings. Use the word comparison feature to learn the differences between similar and commonly confused words.
QUIZ
CAN YOU ANSWER THESE COMMON GRAMMAR DEBATES?
There are grammar debates that never die; and the ones highlighted in the questions in this quiz are sure to rile everyone up once again. Do you know how to answer the questions that cause some of the greatest grammar debates?
Question 1 of 7
Which sentence is correct?

Origin of definitive host

First recorded in 1900–05
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use definitive host in a sentence

  • The mosquito is therefore the definitive host rather than the intermediate, as usually stated.

    Handbook of Medical Entomology|William Albert Riley
  • It is not likely that any intermediate host is necessary for the growth of the larv, prior to their access to the definitive host.

    Parasites|T. Spencer Cobbold

Scientific definitions for definitive host

definitive host
[ dĭ-fĭn′ĭ-tĭv ]

See under host.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
FEEDBACK