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Animal
Definitions
- 1 Of or relating to animals. not-comparable
"animal instincts"
- 2 Raw, base, unhindered by social codes. not-comparable
"animal passions"
- 3 Pertaining to the spirit or soul; relating to sensation or innervation. not-comparable
"To explain what activated the flesh, ‘animal spirits’ were posited, superfine fluids which shuttled between the mind and the vitals, conveying messages and motion."
- 4 Excellent. Ireland, not-comparable, slang
- 1 marked by the appetites and passions of the body wordnet
- 1 A nickname given to people, especially wild people.
- 1 Any member of the kingdom Animalia of multicellular organisms that are usually mobile, whose cells are not encased in a rigid cell wall (distinguishing them from plants and fungi) and which derive energy solely from the consumption of other organisms (further distinguishing them from plants).
"Humans, like other animals, need air to breathe and food to eat."
- 2 A fan of Kesha, an American singer. slang
"For quotations using this term, see Citations:Animal."
- 3 a living organism characterized by voluntary movement wordnet
- 4 Any member of the kingdom Animalia other than a human. broadly
- 5 A higher animal; an animal related to humans. broadly
"When he's hungry my toddler opens his mouth like an animal instead of asking us to feed him."
Show 6 more definitions
- 6 A higher animal; an animal related to humans.; A tetrapod; a land-dwelling nonhuman vertebrate. broadly, colloquial
"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."
- 7 A higher animal; an animal related to humans.; A warm-blooded animal; a mammal or bird. broadly
- 8 A higher animal; an animal related to humans.; A non-human mammal. broadly
"I spent my summer studying the animals and birds of the two islands."
- 9 A person who behaves wildly; a bestial, brutal, brutish, cruel, or inhuman person. figuratively
"My students are animals."
- 10 A person of a particular type specified by an adjective. informal
"He's a political animal."
- 11 Matter, thing. informal
"a whole different animal"
Etymology
From Middle English animal, from Old French animal, from Latin animal, a nominal use of the adjective form animāle, neuter of animālis, from anima (“breath, spirit”). Displaced native Middle English deor, der (“animal”) (whence modern English deer; from Old English dēor (“animal”)), Middle English reother (“animal, neat”) (whence modern English rother; from Old English hrīþer, hrȳþer (“neat, ox”)).
From Middle English animal, from Latin animālis, from either anima (“breath, spirit”) or animus. Originally distinct from the noun, it became associated with attributive use of the noun and is now indistinguishable from it.
See also for "animal"
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Unscramble this word: animal