1
general::
animal
a living thing such as a dog, cow, or tiger, but not an insect, fish, or bird:
• farm animals such as cows, sheep, and pigs • People are becoming more concerned about animal welfare.
creature
an animal – used especially when describing a particular animal’s characteristics or when referring to animals generally:
• The cheetah is a magnificent creature. • all the living creatures in the sea
beast
an animal, especially a large or dangerous one:
• To most people, lions are savage beasts. • a wild beast
living thing
an animal considered as one of a group of things that grow and then die, including humans and plants:
• The only living things we saw were dogs and cats.
species
a group of animals whose members are similar and can breed together to produce young animals:
• Seven species of birds of prey have been observed.
mammal
an animal that drinks milk from its mother’s body when it is young:
• Humans, dogs, and whales are all mammals.
vertebrate
a living creature that has a backbone:
• viruses that affect chickens, monkeys, and most other vertebrates
invertebrate
a living creature that does not have a backbone:
• earthworms and other small invertebrates
Longman-Thesaurus
2
general::
noun ADJ. dead, live, living the export of live animals for slaughter | cold-blooded, warm-blooded | higher, lower | dumb | stuffed glass cases of stuffed animals | dangerous | endangered, rare | extinct | social, solitary | tame | feral, stray, wild | exotic | caged, trapped, wounded (often figurative) He was pacing the room like a caged animal. | domestic, farm, laboratory, zoo | forest, land, marine | draught, pack pack animals such as mules VERB + ANIMAL have, keep In court he was banned from keeping animals. | breed, raise, rear animals bred in captivity | tame, train This animal can be trained to follow simple orders. | hunt, trap | butcher, slaughter ANIMAL + NOUN life, species | behaviour, instinct | lover | husbandry | experiments, testing/tests protesting against animal experiments | rights, welfare | fat, products PHRASES the animal kingdom/world the wonders of the animal kingdom
Oxford Collocations Dictionary