facultative

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Some require fertilization to produce seeds, while others can also reproduce without fertilization, a process known as facultative agamospermy.

From Science Daily • Dec. 20, 2025

"Certain temperature conditions may foster all-female populations, which can be overcome through facultative parthenogenesis," he said.

From Salon • Jun. 10, 2023

Some species, termed facultative parthenogens, alternate between sexual and asexual reproduction.

From Scientific American • Jun. 9, 2023

Note that there is no clear line that differentiates facultative carnivores from omnivores; dogs would be considered facultative carnivores.

From Textbooks • Jun. 9, 2022

Most of the bacteria which produce disease are facultative, that is, they grow either with or without oxygen; but certain of them, as the bacillus of tetanus, are ana�robic.

From Disease and Its Causes by Councilman, William Thomas