animals

Noun

animal (plural animals)

1. A multicellular organism of the kingdom Animalia that is usually mobile, with cells that are not encased in a rigid cell wall (distinguishing them from plants and fungi) and derives energy solely from the consumption of other organisms.
   • Near-synonym: critter

   Synonyms:

   critter

2. (broadly) Any member of the kingdom Animalia other than a human.

   Synonyms:

   beast

3. (broadly) A higher animal; an animal related to humans.
   • When he's hungry my toddler opens his mouth like an animal instead of asking us to feed him.
   1. (broadly, colloquial) A tetrapod; a land-dwelling nonhuman vertebrate.
      • Ancient nomads, wishing to ward off the evening chill and enjoy a meal around a campfire, had to collect wood and then spend time and effort coaxing the heat of friction out from between sticks to kindle a flame. With more settled people, animals were harnessed to capstans or caged in treadmills to...2013 July-August, Henry Petroski, “Geothermal Energy”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 4
   2. (broadly) A warm-blooded animal; a mammal or bird.
   3. (broadly) A non-human mammal.
      • I spent my summer studying the animals and birds of the two islands.

See all 16 meanings of animal