Definitions for animal
ˈæn ə məlan·i·mal

Princeton's WordNet(3.00 / 3 votes)Rate this definition:

1. animal, animate being, beast, brute, creature, faunaadjective

   a living organism characterized by voluntary movement

2. animal(a), carnal, fleshly, sensualadjective

   marked by the appetites and passions of the body

   "animal instincts"; "carnal knowledge"; "fleshly desire"; "a sensual delight in eating"; "music is the only sensual pleasure without vice"

Wikipedia(5.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

1. Animal

   Animals (also referred to as metazoa) are multicellular eukaryotic organisms that form the biological kingdom Animalia. With few exceptions, animals consume organic material, breathe oxygen, are able to move, can reproduce sexually, and grow from a hollow sphere of cells, the blastula, during embryonic development. Over 1.5 million living animal species have been described—of which around 1 million are insects—but it has been estimated there are over 7 million animal species in total. Animals range in length from 8.5 millionths of a metre to 33.6 metres (110 ft). They have complex interactions with each other and their environments, forming intricate food webs. The kingdom Animalia includes humans, but in colloquial use the term animal often refers only to non-human animals. The scientific study of animals is known as zoology. Most living animal species are in the Bilateria, a clade whose members have a bilaterally symmetric body plan. The Bilateria include the protostomes—in which many groups of invertebrates are found, such as nematodes, arthropods, and molluscs—and the deuterostomes, containing both the echinoderms as well as the chordates, the latter containing the vertebrates. Life forms interpreted as early animals were present in the Ediacaran biota of the late Precambrian. Many modern animal phyla became clearly established in the fossil record as marine species during the Cambrian explosion, which began around 542 million years ago. 6,331 groups of genes common to all living animals have been identified; these may have arisen from a single common ancestor that lived 650 million years ago. Historically, Aristotle divided animals into those with blood and those without. Carl Linnaeus created the first hierarchical biological classification for animals in 1758 with his Systema Naturae, which Jean-Baptiste Lamarck expanded into 14 phyla by 1809. In 1874, Ernst Haeckel divided the animal kingdom into the multicellular Metazoa (synonymous for Animalia) and the Protozoa, single-celled organisms no longer considered animals. In modern times, the biological classification of animals relies on advanced techniques, such as molecular phylogenetics, which are effective at demonstrating the evolutionary relationships between animal taxa. Humans make use of many other animal species, such as for food (including meat, milk, and eggs), for materials (such as leather and wool), and also as pets, and for transports, as working animals. Dogs have been used in hunting, while many terrestrial and aquatic animals were hunted for sports. Non-human animals have appeared in art from the earliest times and are featured in mythology and religion.

Webster Dictionary(4.67 / 3 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Animalnoun

   an organized living being endowed with sensation and the power of voluntary motion, and also characterized by taking its food into an internal cavity or stomach for digestion; by giving carbonic acid to the air and taking oxygen in the process of respiration; and by increasing in motive power or active aggressive force with progress to maturity

2. Animalnoun

   one of the lower animals; a brute or beast, as distinguished from man; as, men and animals

3. Animaladjective

   of or relating to animals; as, animal functions

4. Animaladjective

   pertaining to the merely sentient part of a creature, as distinguished from the intellectual, rational, or spiritual part; as, the animal passions or appetites

5. Animaladjective

   consisting of the flesh of animals; as, animal food

6. Etymology: [L., fr. anima breath, soul: cf. F. animal. See Animate.]

Freebase(5.00 / 3 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Animal

   Animals are multicellular, eukaryotic organisms of the kingdom Animalia or Metazoa. Their body plan eventually becomes fixed as they develop, although some undergo a process of metamorphosis later on in their life. Most animals are motile, meaning they can move spontaneously and independently. All animals must ingest other organisms or their products for sustenance. Most known animal phyla appeared in the fossil record as marine species during the Cambrian explosion, about 542 million years ago. Animals are divided into various sub-groups, including birds, mammals, amphibians, reptiles, fish and insects.

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Animal

   an′im-al, n. an organised being, having life, sensation, and voluntary motion—it is distinguished from a plant, which is organised and has life, but not sensation or voluntary motion: the name sometimes implies the absence of the higher faculties peculiar to man.—adj. of or belonging to animals: sensual.—n. Animalisā′tion, the act of converting into animal substance, or of endowing with animal attributes: brutalisation.—v.t. An′imalise, to endow with animal life: to convert into animal matter:—pr.p. an′imalīsing; pa.p. an′imalīsed.—n. An′imalism, the state of being actuated by animal appetites only: the exercise or enjoyment of animal life, as distinct from intellectual: brutishness: sensuality: (rare) a mere animal being.—adv. An′imally, physically merely.—Animal spirits, nervous force: exuberance of health and life: cheerful buoyancy of temper: (Milton) the spirit or principle of volition and sensation. [L.—anima, air, life, Gr. anemos, wind—aō, aēmi, Sans. an, to breathe, to blow.]

Editors Contribution(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. animal

   A type of living organism with a specific body form, structure, systems who act and function with a body, brain, conscience, consciousness, heart, memory, mind, spirit, soul and subconscious

   Animals are beautiful to be with and love.

   Submitted by MaryC on January 25, 2020  

Suggested Resources(3.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

1. animal

   Song lyrics by animal -- Explore a large variety of song lyrics performed by animal on the Lyrics.com website.

British National Corpus

1. Spoken Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'animal' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #1540

2. Written Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'animal' in Written Corpus Frequency: #2357

3. Nouns Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'animal' in Nouns Frequency: #259

Anagrams for animal »

1. Aminal

2. Lamina

3. Maalin

4. Malian

5. Manila

How to pronounce animal?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

How to say animal in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of animal in Chaldean Numerology is: 6

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of animal in Pythagorean Numerology is: 5

Examples of animal in a Sentence

1. Jack Hanna:

   Animal rights activists believe all animals, including your dog or cat, should have the same rights as people and be free; therefore they shouldn’t be in human care under any circumstances.

2. Ogden Nash:

   A family is a unit composed not only of children but of men, women, an occasional animal, and the common cold.

3. Clifford Geertz, "Cultural Anthropology" by Nanda:

   A human being is an animal suspended in webs of significance which he himself has spun.

4. Anna Machado:

   He doesn’t deserve a bond. I don’t think so, i don’t think that’s right. I don’t care if he had no priors. I don’t care. Whatever he did, the way he executed my daughter, and he’s walking the streets like nothing and mocking people. What kind of animal is that?

5. Christian Yates:

   What we've been able to tease out from the mathematical model is it's not necessarily that these cells are migrating in a directed way, actually these cells are diffusing, there's no direction to their migration. It's like when you put a drop of milk into a cup of coffee that you haven't stirred. Eventually that milk will be spread evenly throughout your coffee, and these cells are doing the same sort of thing - they're moving in an undirected manner and eventually, slowly, they manage to fully colonize the skin of this animal.

Popularity rank by frequency of use