Definitions
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- Pertaining to or of the nature of saprophytes; growing on decaying vegetable matter. See Perisporiaceæ.
- In zoology, engendered or growing in putrid infusions, as one of numberless infusorial animalcules; saprogenous: opposed to holophytic.
Wiktionary
- adj. Relating to saprophytes or their life style.
GNU Webster's 1913
- adj. Feeding or growing upon decaying animal or vegetable matter; pertaining to a saprophyte or the saprophytes.
WordNet 3.0
- adj. obtaining food osmotically from dissolved organic material
- adj. (of some plants or fungi) feeding on dead or decaying organic matter
Examples
“Bacteria may be conveniently grouped under two heads: those that live upon dead organic matter, known as the saprophytic forms, and those that are found in living plants or animals, the true parasites.”
“It is 'saprophytic', which means feeding on decaying organic matter.”
“This is the legacy Benazir has left behind for Pakistan," her niece writes -- a "saprophytic culture" in which Zardari is the organism that lives off the corpses.”
The Washington Post: Fatima Bhutto's memoir "Songs of Blood and Sword," reviewed by Thomas Lippman
“ You could say my writing exhibits saprophytic (unless you are a mycologist I suggest you look that word up) tendencies, in that my poems feed off of the already dead and rotting carcasses of the published endeavors of others.”
“Rice is predominant, but weeds, plankton, and saprophytic and photosynthetic bacteria compete with the rice plants for nutrients and diminish the environment.”
“However, weeds, plankton, and saprophytic and photosynthetic bacteria compete with rice for nutrients.”
“He said nothing; only took me by the elbow and led me from the wood, leaving the dead man behind, clothed in the saprophytic hues of war and sacrifice.”
“As a rule, the pabulum in which the saprophytic organisms are provided and”
“Now it is quite customary to treat the fermentative agency in putrefaction as if it were wholly bacterial, and, indeed, the putrefactive group of bacteria are now known as saprophytes, or saprophytic bacteria, as distinct from morphologically similar, but physiologically dissimilar, forms known as parasitic or pathogenic bacteria.”
“It is true that in some three or four instances of this saprophytic destruction of organic tissues, I have observed that, after the strong bacterial investment, there has arisen, not the two forms just named, nor either of them, but one or other of the striking forms now called”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘saprophytic’.
-
250 More Spelling Words
More words for intermediate and advanced spellers.
melisma, dioecious, jejunity, sialogogue, zingiber, zendik, dithyramb, pneuma, kachina, agiotage, baedeker, sabulous and 238 more...
-
Mycology
basidiomycete, initiation, fungus, shiitake, inoculum, substrate, fruit body, mycelium, hyphal growth, oyster, spawn run, polypore and 207 more...
-
Awesome biological adjectives
vespine, virulent, viviparous, vulpine, vulturine, xeromorphic, ursine, ungulate, terricolous, sylvan, setaceous, sciurine and 14 more...
-
Just 'cause I like 'em, S
scrunch, solace, sabotage, saccade, sacerdotal, sacrilegious, sacristy, snappy, skew, steadfast, scowl, scorch and 781 more...
-
Outlander series words
A place for me to keep words I found (or found anew) while reading Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series. (Culling my enormous "Learned (or Encountered) in Reading" list.)
gralloch, yeuk, corpse-candle, saprophytic, baldachin, Kermanshah, celandine, tynchal, quaich, mesentery, basidium, dittany and 244 more...
-
Clearinghouse
For stuff to simply reside.
calcar, pinion, espadrille, antipodes, peregrine, cormorant, tanager, vireo, farrago, undervest, passerine, oscine and 881 more...
-
rememberers
prolix, ageusia, animadversion, anodyne, antic, arabesque, beadle, brachymetropia, colophon, desquamation, diaphoresis, diegesis and 3255 more...
-
BotD
Bossuet, exequial, funereal, bereaved, sepulchral, mausoleum, guttural, unearthly, ultratelluric, eldritch, mortuary, ceremonial and 30 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for saprophytic.
chained_bear "He ... led me from the wood, leaving the dead man behind, clothed in the saprophytic hues of war and sacrifice."
—Diana Gabaldon, Dragonfly in Amber (NY: Delacorte Press, 1991), 867
See also corpse-candle. Jan 3, 2010