animal

1.nounA1

Definition

a living thing such as a dog, cow, lion, or rabbit — one that walks, breathes, and feels, but is not classed with people, with birds, with fish, or with insects in everyday talk.

Example

Vesna feeds the farm animals every morning before school.

common collocation: farm animals

The zoo in Taipei keeps more than two hundred animals from Africa and Asia.

Common collocations

wild animal
farm animal
domestic animal
small animal
feed an animal

Synonyms

creature
more emotional or imaginative; often used in stories or for unusual living things
beast
literary or old-fashioned; suggests a large or wild animal

Antonyms

human
the opposite category in everyday speech
plant
the opposite category in biology

Grammar Patterns

countable noun

Usage Note

In everyday speech, 'animal' usually excludes birds, fish, and insects, even though biology counts them as animals. Sense 2 covers the wider scientific meaning.

Common Mistakes

I saw many animals at the river — fish, frogs, and ducks.

I saw many creatures at the river

fish, frogs, and ducks.' — In everyday English, fish and birds are not usually called animals.

2.nounB2

Definition

in biology, any living being able to move by itself and respond to its surroundings — humans, birds, fish, and insects all count — used to separate moving life from plants.

Example

Biologists group living things into two main kingdoms: animals and plants.

scientific use: animals vs plants

Humans are social animals who need to live and work in groups.

common phrase: social animal

Common collocations

social animal
single-celled animal
marine animal
land animal

Synonyms

organism
scientific term covering animals, plants, and microbes
creature
less technical; can suggest any living being, real or imagined

Antonyms

plant
the contrasting biological kingdom

Grammar Patterns

countable noun

Usage Note

Distinguish from sense 1: this scientific sense includes humans, birds, fish, and insects, while sense 1 excludes them. Context (a biology class, a textbook) signals which sense applies.

3.nounB2

Definition

a strongly disapproving label for a person whose behaviour — often violent, brutal, or filthy — feels so far below normal human decency that you compare them to a wild beast.

Example

The man who hurt those children is an animal and belongs in prison.

pattern: be + an animal (strong moral judgement)

After the fight, fans were calling the player an animal on social media.

Common collocations

a complete animal
behave like an animal
such an animal

Synonyms

brute
similar but slightly old-fashioned; emphasises rough strength
monster
stronger; used for someone who has done truly terrible things

Antonyms

gentleman
polite, well-behaved person — direct opposite in tone

Grammar Patterns

singular noun, often after 'an'

Usage Note

Highly informal and offensive when aimed at a real person. Often used in headlines and online comments about violent crime, or jokingly among friends about messy or rude behaviour.

Common Mistakes

My boss is a strict animal at work.

My boss is very strict at work.

'animal' for a person means cruel or disgusting, not just strict.

4.nounC1

Definition

a colourful label, normally with an adjective in front, for a person, situation, or thing seen as a recognisable type — for example a 'party animal' (someone who loves wild socialising) or 'a different animal' (something that works on completely different rules).

Example

Ines is a real party animal and stays out dancing until sunrise.

fixed phrase: party animal

Running a small dairy farm in Yilan is a very different animal from running a city office in Taipei.

pattern: a different animal from X

Common collocations

party animal
political animal
a different animal
a strange animal

Synonyms

type
neutral and direct; lacks the colourful tone of 'animal'
creature
similar pattern ('a creature of habit') but suggests being shaped by a force

Grammar Patterns

a + ADJECTIVE + animal

Usage Note

Almost always appears with an adjective ('political', 'party', 'different') or after 'a different'. Without such modification it slips back into senses 1 or 3.

Common Mistakes

She is an animal at her job.

She is a real workaholic at her job.

without an adjective like 'political' or 'party', 'animal' usually means a cruel person, not a type.

1.adjectiveB2

Definition

produced by, taken from, or coming out of an animal's body — often used about food, materials, or waste.

Example

Mei avoids animal products like milk, cheese, and eggs.

very common collocation: animal products

The soap is made without animal fat, so vegans can use it.

collocation: animal fat

Common collocations

animal product
animal fat
animal protein
animal waste
animal feed

Synonyms

meat
narrower; only about flesh as food
dairy
narrower; only about milk and milk products

Antonyms

plant-based
made from plants instead of animals
vegetable
from plants, especially in cooking contexts

Grammar Patterns

animal + NOUN

Usage Note

Almost always sits directly before a noun ('animal fat', 'animal protein'). It is rarely used after the verb 'be' — say 'this fat is from an animal', not 'this fat is animal'.

Common Mistakes

This jacket is animal.

This jacket is made from animal leather.

'animal' as an adjective normally goes before a noun, not after 'be'.

2.adjectiveC1

Definition

describing things that resemble or represent animals — their shapes, sounds, movements, or general world — rather than describing material that comes from inside an animal's body.

Example

Schoolchildren at the natural history museum learned how ancient animal life slowly disappeared from the oceans.

collocation: animal life

The cave paintings show simple animal shapes drawn in red and black.

Common collocations

animal life
animal kingdom
animal noise
animal shape
animal behaviour

Synonyms

wild
stronger; suggests untamed and uncontrolled
beastly
old-fashioned and often negative

Antonyms

human
of or like people, not animals
plant
of or like plants, not animals

Grammar Patterns

animal + NOUN

Usage Note

Distinguish from sense 1: this sense is about resembling or relating to animals (animal noises, animal shapes), while sense 1 is about material that comes out of an animal's body (animal fat, animal milk).

3.adjectiveC2

Definition

having to do with the body's strong feelings such as hunger, fear, or sexual desire, rather than thoughts, reason, or the spirit.

Example

The novel describes the soldier's animal fear as bombs fell on the village.

collocation: animal fear

Two strangers met on the train and felt an immediate animal attraction.

collocation: animal attraction

Common collocations

animal instinct
animal passion
animal fear
animal hunger
animal attraction

Synonyms

physical
neutral and broad; lacks the literary, almost wild tone of 'animal'
primal
very close in meaning; suggests something deep and ancient
carnal
formal; usually limited to sexual feelings

Antonyms

spiritual
of the soul or higher feelings
rational
of thought and reason

Grammar Patterns

animal + NOUN (often abstract)

Usage Note

Used before nouns of feeling or impulse (fear, hunger, desire, energy, attraction) and almost never after 'be'. Common in literary or formal writing; in casual speech, people say 'raw' or 'wild' instead.

Common Mistakes

I have animal desire to eat.

I have an animal hunger today.

'animal' goes directly before a noun like 'hunger' or 'fear', not before 'desire to + verb'.

Word family

animalistic
adjectiveC2
animality
nounC2
animate
verbC1
animated
adjectiveB2
animation
nounB1

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

These four words all name living non-human beings, but they pull in different directions. 'Animal' is the everyday word, neutral and used widely from children's books to news reports about wildlife. 'Creature' is softer and more imaginative — a children's book might describe 'small woodland creatures' or 'creatures from another planet' — and it covers anything that lives, including imagined ones. 'Beast' is older and stronger, suggesting a large, powerful, or frightening animal, and it appears mainly in stories, poems, or set phrases like 'beasts of burden'. 'Pet' is narrower again: it names an animal a person keeps at home for companionship, like a cat or hamster. So a tiger is an animal and a beast, a dragon is a creature, and a goldfish is a pet.

animal ↗creature ↗beast ↗pet ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

animal lover
animal welfare
animal rights
animal kingdom
animal shelter
animal testing

Phrases

protect animals
treat animals well
the animal world

Prepositions

of an animal
from an animal
between animals

Etymology

LatinOld FrenchMiddle EnglishModern English

The word 'animal' came into English in the early 1300s from Latin 'animalis', meaning 'having breath' or 'living'. That Latin word was built from 'anima', which meant 'breath' or 'soul' — the same root that gives us 'animate' and 'animation'. The idea was simple: a thing with breath inside it is alive. English first borrowed it from Old French 'animal' before settling on the Latin spelling we still use today. The newer adjective senses (such as 'animal fat' or 'animal instinct') grew naturally out of the noun, while the insulting use for a cruel person dates back to the 1500s.

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animal

animal — noun

1. a living thing such as a dog, cow, lion, or rabbit — one that walks, breathes, a

Grammar Patterns

Usage Note

Common Mistakes

2. in biology, any living being able to move by itself and respond to its surroundi

Grammar Patterns

Usage Note

3. a strongly disapproving label for a person whose behaviour — often violent, brut

Grammar Patterns

Usage Note

Common Mistakes

4. a colourful label, normally with an adjective in front, for a person, situation,

Grammar Patterns

Usage Note

Common Mistakes

animal — adjective

1. produced by, taken from, or coming out of an animal's body — often used about fo

Grammar Patterns

Usage Note

Common Mistakes

2. describing things that resemble or represent animals — their shapes, sounds, mov

Grammar Patterns

Usage Note

3. having to do with the body's strong feelings such as hunger, fear, or sexual des

Grammar Patterns

Usage Note

Common Mistakes

Word family

Synonym discussion

Common collocations

Nouns

Phrases

Prepositions

Etymology

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