free-living
adjective
free-liv·ing
ˈfrē-ˈli-viŋ 
1
: marked by more than usual freedom in the gratification of appetites
2
a
: not fixed to the substrate but capable of motility
a free-living protozoan
b
: being metabolically independent : neither parasitic nor symbiotic
a free-living adult hairworm
Examples of free-living in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
However, if the bacteria are free-living, they could be involved in the body’s processes beyond the brain.
—
Yasemin Saplakoglu, Smithsonian Magazine, 10 Dec. 2024
Recently, a team of researchers based at University College Cork published their investigation into whether and how the gut microbiome of free-living wild birds impacts their survival rates as well as their population sizes.
—Grrlscientist, Forbes, 3 Dec. 2024
Thought to be descended from a free-living bacterium that got trapped inside a complex cell and enslaved to its needs, mitochondria pump out ATP, the energy-rich molecule that fuels most cellular activities.
—Bymitch Leslie, science.org, 8 Nov. 2024
Bunk buys Past research has repeatedly demonstrated that the vast majority of free-living German roach populations have evolved resistance to pyrethroids, the class of insecticides most commonly found in consumer pest control products.
—Lauren Leffer, Popular Science, 14 Aug. 2024
This is the same scenario that produced mitochondria and chloroplasts: Both organelles were formerly free-living bacteria that became symbionts of larger cells and eventually moved in permanently.
—Quanta Magazine, 17 July 2024
Two of these were formed through a process called endosymbiosis, in which a once free-living organism is incorporated into a cell.
—John Timmer, Ars Technica, 11 Apr. 2024
The theory involves the mitochondrion — an organelle that was once a free-living bacterium.
—Quanta Magazine, 6 Mar. 2024
Long ago, mitochondria were free-living bacteria that joined forces with another type of primitive cell to work together in what became our modern complex cells.
—Quanta Magazine, 8 Jan. 2024
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Yasemin Saplakoglu, Smithsonian Magazine, 10 Dec. 2024
Recently, a team of researchers based at University College Cork published their investigation into whether and how the gut microbiome of free-living wild birds impacts their survival rates as well as their population sizes.
—Grrlscientist, Forbes, 3 Dec. 2024
Thought to be descended from a free-living bacterium that got trapped inside a complex cell and enslaved to its needs, mitochondria pump out ATP, the energy-rich molecule that fuels most cellular activities.
—Bymitch Leslie, science.org, 8 Nov. 2024
Bunk buys Past research has repeatedly demonstrated that the vast majority of free-living German roach populations have evolved resistance to pyrethroids, the class of insecticides most commonly found in consumer pest control products.
—Lauren Leffer, Popular Science, 14 Aug. 2024
This is the same scenario that produced mitochondria and chloroplasts: Both organelles were formerly free-living bacteria that became symbionts of larger cells and eventually moved in permanently.
—Quanta Magazine, 17 July 2024
Two of these were formed through a process called endosymbiosis, in which a once free-living organism is incorporated into a cell.
—John Timmer, Ars Technica, 11 Apr. 2024
The theory involves the mitochondrion — an organelle that was once a free-living bacterium.
—Quanta Magazine, 6 Mar. 2024
Long ago, mitochondria were free-living bacteria that joined forces with another type of primitive cell to work together in what became our modern complex cells.
—Quanta Magazine, 8 Jan. 2024
Dictionary Entries Near free-living
Cite this Entry
“Free-living.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/free-living. Accessed 26 Dec. 2024.
Copy CitationMedical Definition
free-living
adjective
free-liv·ing
ˈfrē-ˈliv-iŋ
1
: not fixed to the substrate but capable of motility
a free-living protozoan
2
: being metabolically independent : neither parasitic nor symbiotic
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