critter
English
Etymology
First attested 1815, from a dialectal pronunciation of creature.
Pronunciation
- (General American) enPR: krĭtʹər IPA(key): /ˈkɹɪtɚ/
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈkɹɪtə/
Audio (Southern England) (file) - Rhymes: -ɪtə(ɹ)
- Hyphenation: crit‧ter
Noun
critter (plural critters)
- (usually endearing) A creature, an animal.
- 2013 July 26, Nick Miroff, “Mexico gets a taste for eating insects …”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 7, page 32:
- The San Juan market is Mexico City's most famous deli of exotic meats, where an adventurous shopper can hunt down hard-to-find critters such as ostrich, wild boar and crocodile.
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Coordinate terms
- beastie
Derived terms
- crispy critter
- crotch critter
Translations
a creature
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