The Collaborative International Dictionary
free-living \free-living\ adj. (Biology) Living independently of other organisms; not parasitic or commensal.
Note: eating other organisms is not considered "dependence" in this sense.
Syn: nonparasitic, nonsymbiotic.
Wiktionary
a. (context biology English) (''of an organism'') That lives independently of other organisms rather than part of a symbiotic or parasitic relationship
WordNet
adj. not parasitic on another organism [syn: nonparasitic, nonsymbiotic]
Wikipedia
Free-living may refer to:
- a non- parasitic organism
- a non- sessile organism
Usage examples of "free-living".
The tallest of them had to be at least twenty miles from root to crowna runaway growth that was already dwarfing the frosted iceball it would someday consume, to become free-living in space.
Maybe there'll be a new partnership out there among the starsthe descendants of free-living flatworms existing side by side in technological symbiosis with the descendants of parasitic roundworms.