free-living

[free-liv-ing]

adjective

1. following a way of life in which one freely indulges the appetites, desires, etc.

2. Biology.,  noting an organism that is neither parasitic, symbiotic, nor sessile.

free-living

adjective

1. given to ready indulgence of the appetites

2. (of animals and plants) not parasitic; existing independently

Other Word Forms

• free-liver noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of free-living¹

First recorded in 1810–20

Example Sentences

Scientists have identified around 400 species of free-living amoebae, but only six are known to cause disease in humans - including Naegleria fowleri and Acanthamoeba, both of which can infect the brain.

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It’s also a parasite — because who needs to be free-living when you’re this fabulous?

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Nematodes are among the planet's most abundant animals, "free-living" in water, soil and the Earth's crust in addition to parasitizing a large collection of plant and animal species.

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Photosynthesis takes place inside chloroplasts, small compartments within plant cells that contain their own genome, reflecting their past as free-living photosynthetic bacteria before they were engulfed and co-opted by plants.

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The lifecycle of soil-transmitted helminths has two phases -- a free-living stage as eggs and larvae in the environment and an adult stage inside the host.

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Related Words

• squandering www.thesaurus.com