-phage

-phage

suff.

One that eats or ingests: macrophage.

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[From Greek -phagos, eating, from phagein, to eat; see bhag- in Indo-European roots.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

-phage

n combining form

indicating something that eats or consumes something specified: bacteriophage.

[from Greek -phagos; see phago-]

-phagous adj combining form

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

phage

(feɪdʒ)

n.

bacteriophage.

[by shortening]

-phage

a combining form meaning “a thing that devours,” used esp. in the names of viruses and phagocytes: bacteriophage; macrophage.

[n. use of Greek -phagos -phagous]

Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.