contrafreeloading

English

Etymology 1

From contra- +‎ freeloading.

Noun

contrafreeloading (uncountable)

1. A behaviour, where, when given a choice, an individual animal will choose a food source which requires effort to obtain instead of that which requires little to no effort.
   • 2024 November 22, Stephanie Hanes, Melanie Stetson Freeman, “Moody chickens? Playful bumblebees? Science decodes the rich inner lives of animals.”, in The Christian Science Monitor:

     There is also a free treat option in the puzzle box, a way for the researchers here to measure something called “contrafreeloading.” This term describes a behavior animals demonstrate when they choose to work for a reward rather than just freeloading from readily available food.

Related terms

• contrafreeload
• contrafreeloader
• freeload
• freeloader
• freeloading

 

Etymology 2

From contrafreeload +‎ -ing.

Verb

contrafreeloading

1. present participle and gerund of contrafreeload