Meaning of definitive host in English:
definitive host
noun
BiologyAn organism which supports the adult or sexually reproductive form of a parasite.
Compare with intermediate host‘The worms were using hyena and large cats as definitive hosts and bovids as intermediate hosts.’- ‘Once in the definitive host's gut, the tapeworm larvae mature into adults and shed eggs, completing the cycle.’
- ‘The next step in the typical, three-host life cycle invariably requires a predatory act by the definitive host.’
- ‘Cats are considered the definitive host of toxoplasmosis.’
- ‘Another parasite under suspicion for otter deaths is Sarcocystis neurona, whose only definitive host is the opossum.’
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