1. [n]  an animal or plant that nourishes and supports a parasite; the host does not benefit and is often harmed by the association
2. [n]  (computer science) a computer that provides client stations with access to files and printers as shared resources to a computer network
3. [n]  a technical name for the bread used in the service of Mass or Holy Communion
4. [n]  a vast multitude
5. [n]  archaic terms for army
6. [n]  any organization that provides resources and facilities for a function or event; "Atlanta was chosen to be host for the Olympic Games"
7. [n]  the owner or manager of an inn
8. [n]  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
9. [n]  (medicine) recipient of transplanted tissue or organ from a donor
10. [n]  a person who acts as host at formal occasions (makes an introductory speech and introduces other speakers)
11. [v]  be the host of or for; "We hosted 4 couples last night"

1. \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.
   Note: In the Latin Vulgate the word was applied to the Savior
         as being an offering for the sins of men.
   

2. \Host\, 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.
            A host so great as covered all the field. --Dryden.
   2. Any great number or multitude; a throng.
            And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of
            the heavenly host praising God.       --Luke ii. 13.
            All at once I saw a crowd, A host, of golden
            daffodils.                            --Wordsworth.
   

3. \Host\, 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}.]
   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.
         Time is like a fashionable host, That slightly shakes
         his parting guest by the hand.           --Shak.
   

4. \Host\, v. t.
   To give entertainment to. [Obs.] --Spenser.
   

5. \Host\, v. i.
   To lodge at an inn; to take up entertainment. [Obs.] ``Where
   you shall host.'' --Shak.
   

6. \Host\, n. (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.
   

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.

1. An organism that is infected with/is fed upon by a parasitic or pathogenic organism (e.g., a virus, nematode, fungus, etc.)
2. An organism on which a parasite lives and by which it is nourished (also applied, loosely, to a plant supporting an epiphyte).

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.).