pets

Noun (1)

pet (plural pets)

1. An animal kept as a companion or otherwise for pleasure, rather than for some practical benefit or use.
   • family pet, pet cat, pet dog, pet store
2. (broadly) Something kept as a companion, including inanimate objects.
   • pet plant, pet rock
3. One who is excessively loyal to a superior and receives preferential treatment.
4. Any person or animal especially cherished and indulged; a darling.
   • At first she sat silent; but that could not last: she had resolved to make a pet of her little cousin, as she would have him to be; and she commenced stroking his curls, and kissing his cheek, and offering him tea in her saucer, like a baby.1847 December, Ellis Bell [pseudonym; Emily Brontë], chapter XIX, in Wuthering Heights: […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Thomas Cautley Newby, […], →OCLC

Noun (2)

pet (plural pets)

1. A fit of petulance, a sulk, arising from the impression that one has been offended or slighted.
   • His genius at this time was of a decidedly gloomy cast. He brought his mother a tragedy, in which, though he killed sixteen people before the second act, it made her laugh so, that he thrust the masterpiece into the fire in a pet.1848 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 3, in The History of Pendennis. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1849–1850...

Noun (3)

pet (plural pets)

1. (Geordie, Ireland) A term of endearment usually applied to women and children.

See all 16 meanings of pet