-trophsuff. Organism obtaining its food in a specified way: autotroph; chemotroph.[From Greek -trophos, one who nourishes, one who is nourished, from Greek trephein, to nourish.]American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.troph- var. of tropho- before a vowel: trophallaxis. -troph a combining form meaning ?an organism with nutritional requirements? of the kind specified: heterotroph. [probably back formation from -trophic] Random House Kernerman Webster’s College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.