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

   2 more examples

   Humans, like other animals, need air to breathe and food to eat.

   It cannot be denied it [the chameleon] is (if not the moſt of any) a very abſtemious animall, and ſuch as by reaſon of its frigidity, paucity of bloud, and latitancy in the winter (about which time the obſervations are often made) will long ſubſist without a viſible ſuſtentation.

   1650, Thomas Browne, “Of the Cameleon”, in Pseudodoxia Epidemica: […], 2nd edition, London: […] A[braham] Miller, for Edw[ard] Dod and Nath[aniel] Ekins, […], →OCLC, 3rd book, page 133

   Synonyms: critter

2. broadlyAny member of the kingdom Animalia other than a human.

   Synonyms: beast

3. broadlyA 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. broadlycolloquialA tetrapod; a land-dwelling nonhuman vertebrate.

      1 more example

      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 turn grist into meal.

      2013 July-August, Henry Petroski, “Geothermal Energy”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 4

   2. broadlyA warm-blooded animal; a mammal or bird.
   3. broadlyA non-human mammal.

      I spent my summer studying the animals and birds of the two islands.

      2 more examples

      Birds are as popular as animals in the toy kingdom, especially pigeons, owls and domestic hens.

      1971, Gwen White, Antique Toys And Their Background, page 54

      “Long Story Short,” a new animated series from Raphael Bob-Waksberg with art by Lisa Hanawalt, trades the talking animals for kvetching humans.

      2025 August 21, Robert Ito, “The Makers of ‘BoJack Horseman’ Take Family Matters by the Reins”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 21 Aug 2025

4. derogatoryfigurativelyA person who behaves wildly; a bestial, brutal, brutish, cruel, or inhuman person.

   My students are animals.

   2 more examples

   Own me, I'll let you play the role I'll be your animal

   2019, “Bad Guy”, Finneas O'Connell, Billie Eilish O'Connell (lyrics), performed by Billie Eilish

   She speculated that things could deteriorate later: “I think they’re scared of the English, which is fair; we are animals.”

   2024 July 14, Rachel Hall, quoting Jodie White, “‘I’ve never seen owt like it’: England fans in Benidorm in high spirits before Euro final”, in The Guardian, →ISSN

   Synonyms: brute, monster, savage

5. derogatoryfigurativelyA person who overeats or eats rapidly and noisily.

   Synonyms: belly-god, big back, buzgut, cormorant, dog, epicure, gannet, glutton

6. informalA person of a particular type specified by an adjective.

   He's a political animal.

7. informalMatter, thing.

   no such animal

   1 more example

   a whole different animal

1. not comparableOf or relating to animals.

   animal instincts

   5 more examples

   The season has been most unfavourable to animal life; and I, who am merely animal, have suffered much by it.

   1783 June 3, William Cowper, “To the Rev. William Bull”, in Private Correspondence of William Cowper, Esq. with Several of His Most Intimate Friends. […], volume I, London: […] Henry Colburn, […], and Simpkin and Marshall, […], published 1824, page 266

   […]—according to Sanssure, Abbé Fortis, Bruckenman, Jameson, Dr. Richardson, &c. &c. both animal and vegetal remains have been detected in Basalt and Wacke.

   1809, William Martin, Outlines of an Attempt to Establish a Knowledge of Extraneous Fossils, on Scientific Principles. […], Macclesfield, Cheshire: […] J. Wilson. Sold by the Author, […]; J. White, […], and Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme, […], page 141

   The body was covered with soft hair, and though undoubtedly human, it was very animal in its instincts and ways.

   1890, [Lena,] Lady Login, “Lucknow”, in Sir John Login and Duleep Singh, London: W. H. Allen & Co., […], page 78

   The unsatisfactory material at our command, however, renders it difficult to determine why we cannot prove a worship of a living incarnation for every deity who is represented on the monuments in a form either wholly or partially animal. We must wonder why, for example, the sacred hawk or hawks of Horus at Edfu (who never has human form) are scarcely mentioned.

   1918, W[ilhelm] Max Müller, “[Egyptian Mythology] Worship of Animals and Men”, in Louis Herbert Gray, George Foot Moore, editors, The Mythology of All Races […], volume XII (Egyptian; Indo-Chinese), Boston, Mass.: Marshall Jones Company, page 167

   He looked down at the tangled wet hair, the wild, bare, animal shoulders.

   1913–1921, D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, “The Horse Dealer’s Daughter”, in England My England and Other Stories, New York, N.Y.: Thomas Seltzer, published 24 October 1922, →OCLC, page 243

   Synonyms: beastly, bestial

2. not comparableRaw, base, unhindered by social codes.

   animal passions

   1 more example

   But the line also distills pop culture’s big commandment about sex to its animal essence: If you’re not screwing somebody, you’re nobody.

   2016 August 26, Spencer Kornhaber, “Britney Spears Finds Grace in the Hook-Up on 'Glory'”, in The Atlantic, archived from the original on 29 Sep 2016

   Synonyms: animalistic, beastly, bestial, untamed, wild

3. not comparablePertaining to the spirit or soul; relating to sensation or innervation.

   To explain what activated the flesh, ‘animal spirits’ were posited, superfine fluids which shuttled between the mind and the vitals, conveying messages and motion.

   2003, Roy Porter, Flesh in the Age of Reason, Penguin, published 2004, page 47

4. Irelandnot comparableslangExcellent.

1. A nickname given to people, especially wild people.

plural Animals

1. slangA fan of Kesha, an American singer.

   For quotations using this term, see Citations:Animal.