HOST

The consecrated wafer, believed to be the body of Christ, which in the Mass is offered as a sacrifice; also, the bread before consecration.

An army; a number of men gathered for war. A host so great as covered all the field. Dryden.

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.

One who receives or entertains another, whether gratuitosly 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.

To give entertainment to. [Obs.] Spenser.

To lodge at an inn; to take up entertainment. [Obs.] "Where you shall host." Shak.