How to Use parasitism in a Sentence

parasitism

noun
  • But for them at least, brood parasitism is clearly not a simple case of grifters and marks.
    — Ed Yong, Discover Magazine, 29 June 2011
  • That’s why many organisms take up parasitism but very few ever give it up.
    — Ed Yong, The Atlantic, 26 July 2022
  • This practice is called brood parasitism and is unique on our continent to cowbirds.
    — Val Cunningham Special To The Star Tribune, Star Tribune, 6 July 2021
  • Yet despite their parasitism, mistletoes may well be the Robin Hoods of plants.
    — Rachel Ehrenberg, Smithsonian Magazine, 23 Dec. 2020
  • That’s because dozens of bird species are thought to engage in some form of brood parasitism, each with their own violent flair.
    — Katherine J. Wu, The Atlantic, 26 Oct. 2021
  • The only way to test this hypothesis would be to compare present parasitism rates with those from the past.
    — Rachel Nuwer, Scientific American, 28 Apr. 2022
  • Either way, the study adds to the scant overall knowledge of defenses against mimicry and brood parasitism.
    — Sarah Kuta, Smithsonian Magazine, 28 July 2023
  • Many decades ago, researchers noticed that some ant species employ a more clandestine kind of parasitism.
    — Viviane Callier, Quanta Magazine, 8 May 2023
  • Open enrollment parasitism must be addressed at the state level.
    — Bob Dohr, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 29 Jan. 2020
  • This life history trait is known as obligate brood parasitism.
    — Grrlscientist, Forbes.com, 12 Aug. 2025
  • In Frankopan’s telling, this is that same old story of parasitism writ large, now with planetary fallout.
    — Ben Ehrenreich, The New Republic, 10 May 2023
  • The one-two punch of fire suppression and cowbird parasitism drove Kirtland's numbers down.
    — Jason Daley, Smithsonian, 11 Oct. 2019
  • Such brood parasitism has arisen independently at least three times, in the groups known as cuckoos, cowbirds and honeyguides.
    — The Economist, 18 Jan. 2018
  • That parasitism has cropped up so many times in unrelated species — and thus evolved again and again — speaks to its success as an adaptive strategy.
    — Kate Golembiewski, Discover Magazine, 1 Aug. 2024
  • In each generation, prinias with unusual-looking eggs should be better able to avoid brood parasitism.
    — Elizabeth Preston, Discover Magazine, 20 Apr. 2012
  • Some cuckoos are known for sneaking their own eggs into other birds' nests for their unwitting adoption, a tactic called brood parasitism.
    — Elizabeth Preston, Discover Magazine, 20 Apr. 2012
  • Mothers modify eggs into shields to protect offspring from parasitism.
    — Ed Yong, Discover Magazine, 14 Sep. 2011
  • Foitzik told me that her team couldn’t find any overt downsides to life as an infected ant, a finding that appears to shatter the standard paradigm of parasitism.
    — Katherine J. Wu, The Atlantic, 18 May 2021
  • Hauber studies a behavior known as brood parasitism, in which birds lay eggs in the nests of other species, leaving the unwitting foster parents to rear their chicks.
    — Matt Warren, Science | AAAS, 17 Apr. 2018
  • Whether that reduces incidence of blowfly parasitism in sheep, however, remains to be seen, Ward-Fear notes.
    — Bygennaro Tomma, science.org, 11 July 2024
  • The cowbird practice of brood parasitism can, and has, had serious implications for other native birds.
    — Taylor Piephoff, charlotteobserver, 30 June 2017
  • Brood parasitism is remarkably common among birds in general, and ducks in particular.
    — Ed Yong, Discover Magazine, 29 June 2011
  • Such a relationship between species is called obligate parasitism, because the parasites cannot survive on their own.
    — Viviane Callier, Quanta Magazine, 8 May 2023
  • How and why these botanical curiosities resorted to parasitism remains a mystery.
    — Richard Pallardy, Discover Magazine, 15 July 2021
  • Although there are few long-term data sets on any parasite species, there are one-off studies that document the abundance of parasitism at a particular place and time.
    — Rachel Nuwer, Scientific American, 28 Apr. 2022
  • The internet need not be characterized by predation and parasitism.
    — Brendan Eichand, WSJ, 27 Apr. 2018
  • Different species of cordyceps infect different species of insects—and each took millions of years to perfect its particular brand of parasitism.
    — Ashley Stimpson, Popular Mechanics, 26 Jan. 2023
  • Biologists have observed, over long periods of time, that species that are obligate parthenogens frequently die out from disease, parasitism or changes in habitat.
    — Mercedes Burns, CNN, 27 Dec. 2021
  • Iberian harvester ants were then dependent on Messor structor ants for their survival, forcing the queens to track down males of another species, which is known as sperm parasitism.
    — Ashley Strickland, CNN Money, 13 Sep. 2025
  • Many species employ similar tactics, a practice known as brood parasitism or, depending on the details, kleptoparasitism.
    — Elizabeth Kolbert, The New Yorker, 27 Mar. 2023

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'parasitism.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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