free-living
Americanadjective
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following a way of life in which one freely indulges the appetites, desires, etc.
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Biology. noting an organism that is neither parasitic, symbiotic, nor sessile.
adjective
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given to ready indulgence of the appetites
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(of animals and plants) not parasitic; existing independently
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of free-living
First recorded in 1810–20
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.
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.
From BBC ● Sep. 17, 2025
It’s also a parasite — because who needs to be free-living when you’re this fabulous?
From Salon ● May 27, 2025
"It's especially crucial because of the war in Ukraine. Over 50 percent of all free-living bison are in Ukraine, and conservationists are really worried."
From Science Daily ● Dec. 12, 2023
The “remarkable” new study shows that this division of labor happens in free-living larval forms as well, says Ryan Hechinger, a marine biologist at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography.
From Science Magazine ● Sep. 21, 2023
The first living things may have been something like free-living viroids only a few hundred nucleotides long.
From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan
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.
