host
    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"

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.
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   Note: In the Latin Vulgate the word was applied to the Savior
         as being an offering for the sins of men.
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Host \Host\, v. t.
   To give entertainment to. [Obs.] --Spenser.
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Host \Host\ (h[=o]st), 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.
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            A host so great as covered all the field. --Dryden.
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   2. Any great number or multitude; a throng.
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            And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of
            the heavenly host praising God.       --Luke ii. 13.
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            All at once I saw a crowd,
            A host, of golden daffodils.          --Wordsworth.
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Host \Host\, v. i.
   To lodge at an inn; to take up entertainment. [Obs.] "Where
   you shall host." --Shak.
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Host \Host\ (h[=o]st), 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.]
   1. 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.
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            Time is like a fashionable host,
            That slightly shakes his parting guest by the hand.
                                                  --Shak.
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   2. (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 1913 Suppl.]

host

   1.  A computer connected to a network.

   The term node includes devices such as routers and printers
   which would not normally be called "hosts".

   2.  A computer to which one connects using a
   terminal emulator.

   (1995-02-16)

Host
   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.).