organism, being - a living thing that has (or can develop) the ability to act or function independently

ritual killing, sacrifice - the act of killing (an animal or person) in order to propitiate a deity

tracking, trailing - the pursuit (of a person or animal) by following tracks or marks they left behind

pest - any unwanted and destructive insect or other animal that attacks food or crops or livestock etc.; "he sprayed the garden to get rid of pests"; "many pests have developed resistance to the common pesticides"

critter - a regional term for `creature' (especially for domestic animals)

creepy-crawly - an animal that creeps or crawls (such as worms or spiders or insects)

darter - a person or other animal that moves abruptly and rapidly; "squirrels are darters"

peeper - an animal that makes short high-pitched sounds

homeotherm, homoiotherm, homotherm - an animal that has a body temperature that is relatively constant and independent of the environmental temperature

ectotherm, poikilotherm - an animal whose body temperature varies with the temperature of its surroundings; any animal except birds and mammals

range animal - any animal that lives and grazes in the grassy open land of western North America (especially horses, cattle, sheep)

varment, varmint - any usually predatory wild animal considered undesirable; e.g., coyote

scavenger - any animal that feeds on refuse and other decaying organic matter

work animal - an animal trained for and used for heavy labor

feeder - an animal that feeds on a particular source of food; "a bark feeder"; "a mud feeder"

migrator - an animal (especially birds and fish) that travels between different habitats at particular times of the year

molter, moulter - an animal (especially birds and arthropods and reptiles) that periodically shed their outer layer (feathers or cuticle or skin or hair)

pet - a domesticated animal kept for companionship or amusement

stayer - a person or other animal having powers of endurance or perseverance; "the horse that won the race is a good stayer"

stunt - a creature (especially a whale) that has been prevented from attaining full growth

female - an animal that produces gametes (ova) that can be fertilized by male gametes (spermatozoa)

male - an animal that produces gametes (spermatozoa) that can fertilize female gametes (ova)

adult - any mature animal

giant - any creature of exceptional size

survivor - an animal that survives in spite of adversity; "only the fittest animals were survivors of the cold winters"

mutant - an animal that has undergone mutation

herbivore - any animal that feeds chiefly on grass and other plants; "horses are herbivores"; "the sauropod dinosaurs were apparently herbivores"

insectivore - any organism that feeds mainly on insects

acrodont - an animal having teeth consolidated with the summit of the alveolar ridge without sockets

pleurodont - an animal having teeth fused with the inner surface of the alveolar ridge without sockets

actinomycete - any bacteria (some of which are pathogenic for humans and animals) belonging to the order Actinomycetales

zooplankton - animal constituent of plankton; mainly small crustaceans and fish larvae

conceptus, fertilized egg, embryo - an animal organism in the early stages of growth and differentiation that in higher forms merge into fetal stages but in lower forms terminate in commencement of larval life

chordate - any animal of the phylum Chordata having a notochord or spinal column

invertebrate - any animal lacking a backbone or notochord; the term is not used as a scientific classification

metazoan - any animal of the subkingdom Metazoa; all animals except protozoans and sponges

omnivore - an animal that feeds on both animal and vegetable substances

prey, quarry - animal hunted or caught for food

game - animal hunted for food or sport

physical - involving the body as distinguished from the mind or spirit; "physical exercise"; "physical suffering"; "was sloppy about everything but her physical appearance"