animal
noun · adjective
Simple meaning
Any member of the kingdom Animalia of multicellular organisms that are usually mobile.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
anuhmuhlSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈænəməl
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
sciences
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).
A non-human mammal.
loosely
Any member of the kingdom Animalia other than a human.
figuratively
A person who behaves wildly; a bestial, brutal, brutish, cruel, or inhuman person.
A nickname given to people, especially wild people.
colloquial
A tetrapod; a land-dwelling nonhuman vertebrate.
adjective
Of or relating to animals.
Raw, base, unhindered by social codes.
Pertaining to the spirit or soul; relating to sensation or innervation.
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More ways to use animal
- “The zoo has many different kinds of animal species.”noun
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.