"polyphagous" meaning in English

{
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "poly",
        "3": "phagous"
      },
      "expansion": "poly- + -phagous",
      "name": "confix"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From poly- + -phagous.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "more polyphagous",
      "tags": [
        "comparative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "most polyphagous",
      "tags": [
        "superlative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "polyphagous (comparative more polyphagous, superlative most polyphagous)",
      "name": "en-adj"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adj",
  "senses": [
    {
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "Timothy Johns: The Origins of Human Diet and Medicine -- CHEMICAL ECOLOGY. ISBN 0-8165-1023-7, p. 5",
          "text": "Animals show various degrees of adaptation aimed at taking advantage of available resources, but. . . most can be considered either specialists or generalists. Among plant-eating insects the more specific terms polyphagous, oligophagous, and monophagous are widely employed in relation to the variety of plant species they use. The majority of phytophagous insects are oligophagous. While they differ in their behavior from monophagous insects (which feed on only a single plant species), they are selective as far as which plant families or genera are acceptable. Other factors besides nutritional composition of the plant are important in guiding their behavior. Specialist animals exploit a particular resource: perhaps a particular plant part such as leaves or fruit, or perhaps a single plant species. . .\nBy contrast, humans are extreme generalists. Like other omnivores such as rats, bears, pigs, and many primates, we eat a range of animal and plant foods. For omnivores, not only sensory perception but also the lessons learned from the physiological consequences of ingestion are important in determining food selection."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Eating many types of food."
      ],
      "id": "en-polyphagous-en-adj-WAi~AwGD",
      "links": [
        [
          "Eating",
          "eat"
        ],
        [
          "type",
          "type"
        ],
        [
          "food",
          "food"
        ]
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "_dis1": "88 12",
          "sense": "eating many types of food",
          "word": "euryphagous"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "88 12",
          "sense": "eating many types of food",
          "word": "omnivorous"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "18 82",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "42 58",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English terms prefixed with poly-",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "23 77",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English terms suffixed with -phagous",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "2024 WA Government Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development: Agriculture and Food\nPolyphagous shot-hole borer Euwallacea fornicatus is a beetle native to Southeast Asia. The beetle attacks a wide range of plants by tunnelling into trunks, stems and branches.\nPolyphagous shot-hole borer has a symbiotic relationship with a Fusarium fungus, farming it inside the tree as a food source for the beetle and its larvae. In susceptible trees, the fungus kills vascular tissue causing Fusarium dieback and tree death."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Feeding on many different species of host plants."
      ],
      "id": "en-polyphagous-en-adj-DnMifpl1",
      "links": [
        [
          "host",
          "host"
        ],
        [
          "plant",
          "plant"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(of a herbivorous species of insect) Feeding on many different species of host plants."
      ],
      "raw_tags": [
        "of a herbivorous species of insect"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "polyphagous"
}

{
  "categories": [
    "English adjectives",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English terms prefixed with poly-",
    "English terms suffixed with -phagous"
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "poly",
        "3": "phagous"
      },
      "expansion": "poly- + -phagous",
      "name": "confix"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From poly- + -phagous.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "more polyphagous",
      "tags": [
        "comparative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "most polyphagous",
      "tags": [
        "superlative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "polyphagous (comparative more polyphagous, superlative most polyphagous)",
      "name": "en-adj"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adj",
  "related": [
    {
      "sense": "eating many types of food",
      "word": "euryphagous"
    },
    {
      "sense": "eating many types of food",
      "word": "omnivorous"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "Timothy Johns: The Origins of Human Diet and Medicine -- CHEMICAL ECOLOGY. ISBN 0-8165-1023-7, p. 5",
          "text": "Animals show various degrees of adaptation aimed at taking advantage of available resources, but. . . most can be considered either specialists or generalists. Among plant-eating insects the more specific terms polyphagous, oligophagous, and monophagous are widely employed in relation to the variety of plant species they use. The majority of phytophagous insects are oligophagous. While they differ in their behavior from monophagous insects (which feed on only a single plant species), they are selective as far as which plant families or genera are acceptable. Other factors besides nutritional composition of the plant are important in guiding their behavior. Specialist animals exploit a particular resource: perhaps a particular plant part such as leaves or fruit, or perhaps a single plant species. . .\nBy contrast, humans are extreme generalists. Like other omnivores such as rats, bears, pigs, and many primates, we eat a range of animal and plant foods. For omnivores, not only sensory perception but also the lessons learned from the physiological consequences of ingestion are important in determining food selection."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Eating many types of food."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "Eating",
          "eat"
        ],
        [
          "type",
          "type"
        ],
        [
          "food",
          "food"
        ]
      ]
    },
    {
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "2024 WA Government Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development: Agriculture and Food\nPolyphagous shot-hole borer Euwallacea fornicatus is a beetle native to Southeast Asia. The beetle attacks a wide range of plants by tunnelling into trunks, stems and branches.\nPolyphagous shot-hole borer has a symbiotic relationship with a Fusarium fungus, farming it inside the tree as a food source for the beetle and its larvae. In susceptible trees, the fungus kills vascular tissue causing Fusarium dieback and tree death."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Feeding on many different species of host plants."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "host",
          "host"
        ],
        [
          "plant",
          "plant"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(of a herbivorous species of insect) Feeding on many different species of host plants."
      ],
      "raw_tags": [
        "of a herbivorous species of insect"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "polyphagous"
}