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host-specific

American

[hohst-spi-sif-ik] / ˈhoʊst spɪˈsɪf ɪk /

adjective

capable of living solely on or in one species of host, as a parasite that infests only chickens.

Etymology

Origin of host-specific

First recorded in 1965–70

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Their work supports earlier findings, based on DNA markers and crossing experiments which suggested that F. xylarioides is a species complex containing distinct, host-specific populations.

From Science Daily • Dec. 5, 2024

And one of the most abundant milkweed-visiting aphids, the nonnative oleander aphid, is host-specific, meaning it doesn’t eat other plants.

From Seattle Times • Nov. 8, 2023

The present study highlights features of host-specific adaptations at several levels: ape to human, primate to rodent and within human hosts.

From Nature • Jan. 24, 2017

The native population of flies fed on hawthorn species and is host-specific: it only infests hawthorn trees.

From Textbooks • Apr. 25, 2013

“Genetic evidence for female host-specific races of the common cuckoo.”

From New York Times • Jun. 2, 2010

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