host flags & options

-t

Specify the DNS record type to query.

host -t MX example.com

host -t AAAA example.com

host -t TXT example.com

-a

Query all record types (equivalent to -t ANY).

host -a example.com

-v

Verbose output. Shows the full DNS response.

host -v example.com

-l

List all hosts in a domain (zone transfer). Requires permission from the nameserver.

host -l example.com ns1.example.com

-W

Set the query timeout in seconds.

host -W 5 example.com

-R

Set the number of retries for failed queries.

host -R 3 example.com

-4 / -6

Force IPv4 or IPv6 transport only.

host -4 example.com

host -6 example.com

Reverse lookup

Pass an IP address to do a reverse DNS lookup.

host 8.8.8.8