informal
: an animal : creature sense 1
Most of her sublime illustrations involve hippos and pigs, which are appealing critters, especially when they have a few chocolate smudges around the mouth.—
People Weekly
People WeeklyWhen the wind is blowing just so, the field is set afire on three sides, and all manner of critters get flushed out of one end—snakes, possums, raccoons, and rabbits, lots of rabbits.—Alexander Wolff
Alexander WolffFlies, gnats, mosquitoes, ticks, mites and lice pester your horse year-round. If you ignore them, these critters can cause your equine friend months of misery.—Charlene Strickland
—sometimes used of a personCharlene StricklandSale admits that humans, being the relatively big-brained critters we are, cannot do without technology …—M. Kujawa
M. KujawaExamples of critter in a Sentence
The woods are filled with skunks, raccoons, and other critters.
she's so fond of every kind of critter that she ought to be a veterinarian
Recent Examples on the Web
Now, fellow critters — beavers — are actually doing their part to combat climate change, one dam at a time, a new study says.
—Doyle Rice, USA Today, 22 Mar. 2026
But once the critter was eliminated from the equation, cotton farms grew so much cotton that some farmers had to switch to other, more edible, crops to make a profit.
—Arkansas Online, 19 Mar. 2026
Better Habitat and Hunting in Roadless Areas Looking specifically at big-game species in the West, where around 87 percent of our National Forests are located, roadless areas provide the core habitat that elk, mule deer, and other critters rely on.
—Dac Collins, Outdoor Life, 19 Mar. 2026
At Usangu Expedition Camp in Tanzania, for example, guides have replaced bright spotlights with thermal cameras so guests can observe critters with minimal disturbance.
—Stephanie Vermillion, Outside, 16 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for critter
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Doyle Rice, USA Today, 22 Mar. 2026
But once the critter was eliminated from the equation, cotton farms grew so much cotton that some farmers had to switch to other, more edible, crops to make a profit.
—Arkansas Online, 19 Mar. 2026
Better Habitat and Hunting in Roadless Areas Looking specifically at big-game species in the West, where around 87 percent of our National Forests are located, roadless areas provide the core habitat that elk, mule deer, and other critters rely on.
—Dac Collins, Outdoor Life, 19 Mar. 2026
At Usangu Expedition Camp in Tanzania, for example, guides have replaced bright spotlights with thermal cameras so guests can observe critters with minimal disturbance.
—Stephanie Vermillion, Outside, 16 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for critter
Cite this Entry
“Critter.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/critter. Accessed 28 Mar. 2026.
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