Adjacent Words

Host definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

HOST, n. [L.hostis, a stranger, an enemy, probably of the same family. See Hospitable.]
1. One who entertains another at his own house, without reward.
Homer never entertained guests or hosts with long speeches.
2. One who entertains another at his house for reward; an innkeeper; a landlord.
3. A guest; one who is entertained at the house of another. The innkeeper says of the traveler,he has a good host,and the traveler says of his landlord, he has a kind host. [See Guest.]
HOST, n. [L. hostis, a stranger, an enemy.] The sense is probably transferred from a single foe to an army of foes.]
1. An army; a number of men embodied for war.
2. Any great number or multitude.
HOST, n. [L. hostia, a victim or sacrifice, from hostis, an enemy.]
In the Romish church, the sacrifice of the mass, or the consecrated wafer, representing the body of Christ, or as the Catholics allege, transubstantiated into his own body.
HOST, v.i. To lodge at an inn; to take up entertainment. [Little used.]
HOST, v.t. To give entertainment to. [Not used.]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a person who invites guests to a social event (such as a party in his or her own home) and who is responsible for them while they are there
2: a vast multitude [syn: horde, host, legion]
3: an animal or plant that nourishes and supports a parasite; it does not benefit and is often harmed by the association [ant: parasite]
4: a person who acts as host at formal occasions (makes an introductory speech and introduces other speakers) [syn: master of ceremonies, emcee, host]
5: archaic terms for army [syn: host, legion]
6: any organization that provides resources and facilities for a function or event; "Atlanta was chosen to be host for the Olympic Games"
7: (medicine) recipient of transplanted tissue or organ from a donor
8: the owner or manager of an inn [syn: host, innkeeper, boniface]
9: a technical name for the bread used in the service of Mass or Holy Communion
10: (computer science) a computer that provides client stations with access to files and printers as shared resources to a computer network [syn: server, host] v
1: be the host of or for; "We hosted 4 couples last night"

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French ost, from Late Latin hostis, from Latin, stranger, enemy — more at guest Date: 14th century 1. army 2. a very large number ; multitude II. intransitive verb Date: 15th century to assemble in a host usually for a hostile purpose III. noun Etymology: Middle English hoste host, guest, from Anglo-French, from Latin hospit-, hospes, probably from hostis Date: 14th century 1. a. one that receives or entertains guests socially, commercially, or officially b. one that provides facilities for an event or function <our college served as host for the basketball tournament> 2. a. a living animal or plant on or in which a parasite lives b. the larger, stronger, or dominant member of a commensal or symbiotic pair c. an individual into which a tissue, part, or embryo is transplanted from another 3. a mineral or rock that is older than the minerals or rocks in it; also a substance that contains a usually small amount of another substance incorporated in its structure 4. a radio or television emcee 5. a computer that controls communications in a network or that administers a database; also server 6 IV. transitive verb Date: 15th century 1. to serve as host to, at, or for <host friends> <host a dinner> 2. emcee <hosted a series of TV programs> V. noun Usage: often capitalized Etymology: Middle English hoste, oste, from Anglo-French oste, oiste, from Late Latin & Latin; Late Latin hostia Eucharist, from Latin, sacrifice Date: 14th century the eucharistic bread

Oxford Reference Dictionary

1. n. 1 (usu. foll. by of) a large number of people or things. 2 archaic an army. 3 (in full heavenly host) Bibl. a the sun, moon, and stars. b the angels. Phrases and idioms: host (or hosts) of heaven = sense 3 of n. is a host in himself can do as much as several ordinary people. Lord (or Lord God) of hosts God as Lord over earthly or heavenly armies. Etymology: ME f. OF f. L hostis stranger, enemy, in med.L 'army' 2. n. & v. --n. 1 a person who receives or entertains another as a guest. 2 the landlord of an inn (mine host). 3 Biol. an animal or plant having a parasite or commensal. 4 an animal or person that has received a transplanted organ etc. 5 the compère of a show, esp. of a television or radio programme. --v.tr. act as host to (a person) or at (an event). Etymology: ME f. OF oste f. L hospes -pitis host, guest 3. n. the bread consecrated in the Eucharist. Etymology: ME f. OF (h)oiste f. L hostia victim

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Host Host, n. (Biol.) Any animal or plant affording lodgment or subsistence to a parasitic or commensal organism. Thus a tree is a host of an air plant growing upon it.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Host Host (h[=o]st), n. [LL. hostia sacrifice, victim, from hostire to strike.] (R. C. Ch.) The consecrated wafer, believed to be the body of Christ, which in the Mass is offered as a sacrifice; also, the bread before consecration. Note: In the Latin Vulgate the word was applied to the Savior as being an offering for the sins of men.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Host Host, n. [OE. host, ost, OF. host, ost, fr. L. hostis enemy, LL., army. See Guest, and cf. Host a landlord.] 1. An army; a number of men gathered for war. A host so great as covered all the field. --Dryden. 2. Any great number or multitude; a throng. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God. --Luke ii. 13. All at once I saw a crowd, A host, of golden daffodils. --Wordsworth.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Host Host, n. [OE. host, ost, OF. hoste, oste, F. h[^o]te, from L. hospes a stranger who is treated as a guest, he who treats another as his guest, a hostl prob. fr. hostis stranger, enemy (akin to E. guest a visitor) + potis able; akin to Skr. pati master, lord. See Host an army, Possible, and cf. Hospitable, Hotel.] One who receives or entertains another, whether gratuitously or for compensation; one from whom another receives food, lodging, or entertainment; a landlord. --Chaucer. ``Fair host and Earl.'' --Tennyson. Time is like a fashionable host, That slightly shakes his parting guest by the hand. --Shak.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Host Host, v. t. To give entertainment to. [Obs.] --Spenser.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Host Host, v. i. To lodge at an inn; to take up entertainment. [Obs.] ``Where you shall host.'' --Shak.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(hosts, hosting, hosted) Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English. 1. The host at a party is the person who has invited the guests and provides the food, drink, or entertainment. Apart from my host, I didn't know a single person there... N-COUNT 2. If someone hosts a party, dinner, or other function, they have invited the guests and provide the food, drink, or entertainment. Tonight she hosts a ball for 300 guests. VERB: V n 3. A country, city, or organization that is the host of an event provides the facilities for that event to take place. Barcelona was chosen to be host of the 1992 Olympic games. N-COUNT: oft N n 4. If a country, city, or organization hosts an event, they provide the facilities for the event to take place. Cannes hosts the annual film festival. VERB: V n 5. If a person or country plays host to an event or an important visitor, they host the event or the visit. The Prime Minister played host to French Premier Jacques Chirac. PHRASE: V inflects 6. The host of a radio or television show is the person who introduces it and talks to the people who appear in it. I am host of a live radio programme. = presenter N-COUNT: usu with supp 7. The person who hosts a radio or television show introduces it and talks to the people who appear in it. She also hosts a show on St Petersburg Radio. VERB: V n 8. A host of things is a lot of them. A host of problems may delay the opening of the Channel Tunnel... = multitude QUANT 9. A host or a host computer is the main computer in a network of computers, which controls the most important files and programs. N-COUNT: oft N n 10. The host of a parasite is the plant or animal which it lives on or inside and from which it gets its food. (TECHNICAL) When the eggs hatch the larvae eat the living flesh of the host animal. N-COUNT: oft N n 11. The Host is the bread which is used to represent the body of Christ in Christian church services such as Holy Communion. (TECHNICAL) N-COUNT: usu sing, the N

Easton's Bible Dictionary

an entertainer (Rom. 16:23); a tavern-keeper, the keeper of a caravansary (Luke 10:35).

In warfare, a troop or military force. This consisted at first only of infantry. Solomon afterwards added cavalry (1 Kings 4:26; 10:26). Every male Israelite from twenty to fifty years of age was bound by the law to bear arms when necessary (Num. 1:3; 26:2; 2 Chr. 25:5).

Saul was the first to form a standing army (1 Sam. 13:2; 24:2). This example was followed by David (1 Chr. 27:1), and Solomon (1 Kings 4:26), and by the kings of Israel and Judah (2 Chr. 17:14; 26:11; 2 Kings 11:4, etc.).

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. 1. Entertainer. 2. Landlord, innkeeper. 3. Army, legion, armed force. 4. Multitude, horde, throng, vast assemblage. 5. Consecrated wafer.

Moby Thesaurus

Agnus Dei, Communion, Eucharist, Holy Communion, Holy Grail, Last Supper, Pieta, Sacrament Sunday, Sanctus bell, Sangraal, altar bread, ark, asperger, asperges, aspergillum, bambino, beadroll, beads, bread, bread and wine, candle, censer, chaplet, ciborium, consecrated bread, consecrated elements, consubstantiation, cross, crucifix, cruet, elements, eucharistial, holy cross, holy water, holy-water sprinkler, icon, impanation, incensory, intinction, loaf, matzo, menorah, mezuzah, mikvah, monstrance, osculatory, ostensorium, paschal candle, pax, phylacteries, prayer shawl, prayer wheel, pyx, real presence, relics, rood, rosary, sacramental, sacred relics, sacring bell, shofar, subpanation, sukkah, tabernacle, tallith, the Holy Sacrament, the Sacrament, thurible, transubstantiation, urceole, veronica, vigil light, votive candle, wafer

Moby Thesaurus

MC, a mass of, a world of, announcer, armed force, armed service, army, array, assemblage, assembly, bevy, body, bunch, career soldiers, cloud, cluster, clutter, cohue, colony, covey, crowd, crush, deluge, do the honors, drift, drive, drove, emcee, entertain, entertain guests, entertainer, fighting machine, flight, flock, flocks, flood, forces, galaxy, gam, gang, give a party, ground forces, ground troops, guest, hail, have, heap, herd, hive, horde, hostess, innkeeper, jam, kennel, landlady, landlord, large amount, legion, legions, litter, lots, manager, many, mass, masses of, master of ceremonies, military establishment, mine host, mob, muchness, multitude, nest, numbers, occupation force, pack, panoply, paratroops, plurality, pod, presenter, preside, press, pride, proprietor, proprietress, publican, quantities, quite a few, rabble, rank and file, ranks, receptionist, regular army, regulars, rout, ruck, school, scores, shoal, ski troops, skulk, sloth, soldiery, spate, standing army, storm troops, swarm, the line, the military, throng, throw a party, tidy sum, trip, troop, troops, worlds of