creaturecrea‧ture /ˈkriːtʃə $ -ər/ ●●● W3 noun [countable] 
all the living creatures in the seacreatures of the deep (=animals and fish that live in the ocean)► see thesaurus at animal2imaginary or strange an imaginary animal or person, or one that is very strange and frightening: creatures from outer space3a creature of habit someone who always does things in the same way or at the same time4something made or invented formal something, especially something bad, that was made or invented by a particular person or organizationcreature of The poll tax was a creature of the government.5somebody controlled by something someone who is controlled or influenced a lot by somethingcreature of He was a creature of the military government.6beautiful/stupid/adorable etc creature literary someone who has a particular character or quality: He was the most beautiful creature Dot had ever seen.COLLOCATIONSADJECTIVES/NOUN + creaturea living creature· The early Greeks believed that plants were living creatures that felt pain and pleasure.a little/small/tiny creature· tiny creatures such as micea beautiful/magnificent creature· The buffalo is a magnificent creature.a wild creature· Damage to the environment affects all wild creatures.a sea/marine creature (also an ocean creature)· The first living creatures were marine creatures.a furry creature· Town dwellers see the squirrel as a cute furry creature, but to farmers they’re a pest.a dangerous creature· dangerous creatures such as tigersa nocturnal creature (=awake at night and sleeping in the day)· As darkness falls, nocturnal creatures begin to make an appearance.a primitive/simple creature (=one with only a few cells)· primitive creatures like bacteriaa complex creature (=consisting of many different parts)· Human beings are extremely complex creatures.
WORD ORIGINcreature
Origin:
1200-1300 Old French, Late Latin creatura, from Latin creare; ➔ CREATEEXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- creatures of the deep
- The Housing Board was a creature of Mayor Beller's design.
- The movie's about creatures from outer space.
- They found a fossil of a small, sparrow-like creature.
- But they, like all creatures, clearly have their own inner life.
- Great big and fearsome Dimetrodon, a species of dinosaur, was the most powerful creature.
- Higher still up the Sizewell natural food chain is another creature we had gone especially to find-marine skuas.
- Jainism, a Hindu reform church, prohibits the killing of any living creature.
- The pull of the invisible creature grew stronger.
- The scale and spirit of the iron creatures on display brought to mind one image: mechanical dinosaurs without skin.
- They were rare, complex creatures of overwhelming confidence, persistence and ambition.
THESAURUS
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.
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
an animal, especially a large or dangerous one: · To most people, lions are savage beasts.· a wild beast
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.
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.
an animal that drinks milk from its mother’s body when it is young: · Humans, dogs, and whales are all mammals.
a living creature that has a backbone: · viruses that affect chickens, monkeys, and most other vertebrates
a living creature that does not have a backbone: · earthworms and other small invertebrates
WORD SETSaerobic, adjectiveafterbirth, nounalgae, nounalimentary canal, nounamber, nounameba, nounamino acid, nounamoeba, nounanaconda, nounanaerobic, adjectiveandrogynous, adjectiveantibody, nounantigen, nounantitoxin, nounappendage, nounarm, nounarmour, nounasexual, adjectiveassimilation, nounatrophy, verbaviary, nounbacteria, nounbacteriology, nounbarnacle, nounbile, nounbinocular vision, nounbio-, prefixbiochemistry, nounbiodegradable, adjectivebiodiversity, nounbiohazard, nounbiological, adjectivebiological clock, nounbiology, nounbiomass, nounbiome, nounbiosphere, nounblind, nounbrain, nounbreathe, verbbreed, verbbreed, nounbreeding, nounbristle, nounbulb, nouncapsule, nouncarbohydrate, nouncarbon dioxide, nouncarnivore, nouncell, nouncellular, adjectivecellulose, nouncentral nervous system, nouncervical, adjectivecholesterol, nounchromosome, nouncirculation, nouncirculatory, adjectiveclass, nounclone, nouncold-blooded, adjectiveconceive, verbconch, nounconnective tissue, nouncopulate, verbcoral reef, nouncornea, nouncoronary, adjectivecorpuscle, nouncortex, nouncortisone, nouncowrie, nouncrab, nouncrawfish, nouncrayfish, nouncreature, nouncross, verbcrossbreed, nounculture, nouncytoplasm, noundecay, verbdecay, noundecompose, verbdefecate, verbdenizen, noundextrose, noundiaphragm, noundigest, verbdigestion, noundigestive, adjectiveDNA, noundorsal, adjectivedry rot, nounduct, noundwarf, noundwarf, adjectiveecological, adjectiveecology, nounecosystem, nounegg, nounejaculate, verbembryo, nounembryonic, adjectiveenzyme, nounepidermis, nounevolution, nounevolutionary, adjectiveexcrement, nounexcrescence, nounexcrete, verbexcretion, nounexhale, verbexoskeleton, nounextinction, nounfaeces, nounfamily, nounfang, nounfat, nounfatty acid, nounfauna, nounfeces, nounfeed, verbfemale, adjectivefemale, nounferment, verbferment, nounfertile, adjectivefertility, nounfertilize, verbfission, nounflank, nounflatulence, nounflesh, nounfleshy, adjectiveflightless, adjectiveflora, nounfoetal, adjectivefoetus, nounfoliage, nounfossil, nounfreak, nounfreshwater, adjectivefructose, noungamete, nounganglion, noungene, noungene pool, noungenera, genetic, adjectivegenetic code, noungenetic engineering, noungenetic fingerprinting, noungenetics, noungenome, noungenus, noungestation, noungland, nounglandular, adjectiveglucose, noungluten, noungonad, noungrass snake, noungrow, verbgrowth, nounhabitat, nounhaemoglobin, nounhearing, nounheart, nounhemisphere, nounherbivore, nounhereditary, adjectiveheredity, nounhermaphrodite, nounhibernate, verbhistamine, nounhoming, adjectivehormone, nounhost, nounimpregnate, verbimpulse, nounincubate, verbindigenous, adjectiveinfected, adjectiveinfertile, adjectiveinfest, verbingest, verbinhale, verbinseminate, verbinsensate, adjectiveinsulin, nounintegument, nounintercourse, nouninterferon, nounintestine, nouninvertebrate, nouninvoluntary, adjectiveiris, nounjaw, nounjelly, nounkidney, nounkrill, nounlactate, verblactation, nounlactic acid, nounleech, nounleg, nounlesser, adjectivelichen, nounlife, nounlife cycle, nounlife form, nounligament, nounlimb, nounlimpet, nounlipid, nounliver, nounliving fossil, nounlocomotion, nounlymph, nounlymph node, nounmale, adjectivemale, nounmammal, nounmandible, nounmate, nounmate, verbmembrane, nounmetabolism, nounmetabolize, verbmetamorphosis, nounmicrobe, nounmicrobiology, nounmicroorganism, nounmicroscopic, adjectivemigrate, verbmigratory, adjectivemiscarriage, nounmolar, nounmorphology, nounmotor, adjectivemould, nounmouth, nounmucous membrane, nounmucus, nounmulticellular, adjectivemuscle, nounmuscular, adjectivemutant, nounmutate, verbmutation, nounnatural history, nounnatural selection, nounnature, nounneck, nounnectar, nounnerve, nounnervous, adjectivenervous system, nounneural, adjectiveneuro-, prefixneurology, nounnode, nounnose, nounnostril, nounnucleic acid, nounnucleus, nounnutrient, nounnutriment, nounoesophagus, nounoestrogen, nounolfactory, adjectiveoptic, adjectiveorgan, nounorganic, adjectiveorganic chemistry, nounorganism, nounorifice, nounossify, verbosteo-, prefixoutgrowth, nounova, ovary, nounoverwinter, verboviduct, nounoviparous, adjectiveovulate, verbovum, nounparasite, nounpathogen, nounpedigree, nounpelvic, adjectivepelvis, nounpenile, adjectivepenis, nounpepsin, nounperiod, nounperspiration, nounperspire, verbphotosynthesis, nounphylum, nounpigment, nounpigmentation, nounplankton, nounplasma, nounpollinate, verbpostnatal, adjectivepregnancy, nounpregnant, adjectivepremature, adjectiveprenatal, adjectiveproduct, nounproliferation, nounpropagate, verbprotein, nounprotoplasm, nounprotozoan, nounpuberty, nounpulmonary, adjectivepulp, nounpulsation, nounputrefy, verbputrid, adjectivered blood cell, nounregurgitate, verbrenal, adjectivereproduce, verbreproduction, nounreproductive, adjectiverespiration, nounrespiratory, adjectiverespire, verbretina, nounroot, nounrot, verbrot, nounruff, nounsac, nounsaliva, nounsalivary gland, nounsalivate, verbsaltwater, adjectivescale, nounscallop, nounscaly, adjectivesebaceous, adjectivesecrete, verbsecretion, nounsemen, nounsense organ, nounsensory, adjectiveserum, nounsex, nounsex, verbsexless, adjectivesexual intercourse, nounsheath, nounshell, nounsibling, nounskeletal, adjectiveskeleton, nounskin, nounskull, nounspasm, nounspasmodic, adjectivespecies, nounspecimen, nounsperm, nounspiderweb, nounspinal cord, nounspine, nounspineless, adjectivestarch, nounstem cell, nounstimulate, verbstimulus, nounstrain, nounsubject, nounsubspecies, nounsucker, nounsucrose, nounsweat, verbsweat, nounsweat gland, nounsymbiosis, nounsystemic, adjectivetail, nountaxonomy, nounteeth, testosterone, nountest-tube baby, nountissue, nountrachea, nountube, noununicellular, adjectiveurethra, nounuric, adjectiveurinate, verburine, nounvariety, nounvector, nounvein, nounvenom, nounvenomous, adjectiveventricle, nounvertebra, nounvertebrate, nounvivisection, nounwarm-blooded, adjectivewean, verbwildlife, nounwindpipe, nounyolk, noun
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRYADJECTIVES/NOUN + creature Deer are shy creatures.COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADJECTIVE
· The early Greeks believed that plants were living creatures that felt pain and pleasure.
· tiny creatures such as mice
· The buffalo is a magnificent creature.
· Damage to the environment affects all wild creatures.
(also an ocean creature)· The first living creatures were marine creatures.
· Town dwellers see the squirrel as a cute furry creature, but to farmers they’re a pest.
· dangerous creatures such as tigers
(=awake at night and sleeping in the day)· As darkness falls, nocturnal creatures begin to make an appearance.
(=one with only a few cells)· primitive creatures like bacteria
(=consisting of many different parts)· Human beings are extremely complex creatures.
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES Deer are shy creatures.· His doe's a beautiful creature, too.· Dominic remains, I would say, a preposterously beautiful creature.· The Copper Beech Naiads were the most beautiful creatures any of them had ever seen.· To me, Dominic was always a beautiful creature.· It is the same with visual responses to light and darkness, to summer and winter, to beautiful creatures or plants.· They were beautiful creatures with red legs, black head and thorax, and black white-ringed antennae.· Even if I break your cage, I can't reach you, beautiful creature!· At the sight they forgot the goddess and turned in pursuit of the beautiful creature.
· We can not say that there is a separate, solid, objective world which different creatures perceive in different ways.· In each different place, he caught different furry creatures that I would never have known existed.· You control our heroine Jill as she battles with different creatures in her search for weapons, gems and health giving food.· Online services are very different creatures from Internet service providers.· He was Mr Summerchild - an entirely different creature.· There are many sequences of eyes in different creatures.· Strange alloys can be made with ingredients from different creatures.
· Pozzo was a small black furry creature that, years ago, had belonged to Henry.· In each different place, he caught different furry creatures that I would never have known existed.· Read in studio A pet lover with a passion for hamsters has let the furry creatures take over her terraced house.· Edward Koren, whose furry creatures often defy links to any known species?· You might see a group of these furry creatures in fields beside railway tracks.
· We know they were not large creatures and, probably, sought security by congregating.· What is the largest air-breathing creature ever to inhabit the earth?· This must be considered a bonus to the food resources available to any larger creatures.· Consequently, the larger creatures that prey on them, the raptors, are fleeing starvation too.· Simply by growing larger, creatures suffer a continual decrease in relative surface area.· I crawl into my sleeping bag and drift off, listening to large creatures moving nearby in a dark sea.· The invertebrates include quite large creatures, such as freshwater shrimps and crayfish.
· They are strange little creatures with a shell-like carapace and clinging feeler-like attachments.· These little creatures are mostly white, in the tradition of the popular white child-like Snowbabies.· And indeed the little creature merely sighed before lying motionless, the fateful twitching stilled at last.· That little creature must have had a strength to survive that we can only guess at.· These days, there is little doubt that creatures possess a mind structure.· These tough little creatures had just walked a thousand kilometers or so on nothing but milk, chilli and flour.· It means they can learn more about the lifestyle of the little creatures.· I was beyond fury at this little creature, who had spoiled my chances at amassing a fortune of pink clay.
· This at least is one joy that must have been known by almost every living creature.· The positive forms of living creatures express the internal pressure of their circulatory systems.· The sensory and motor indriyas are an integral part of the internal mind configuration of all living creatures.· Whether or not a particular form of radiation has any effect on a living creature depends upon three factors.· The same, of course, applies to all interactions between living creatures, including human to human.· The last thing I want is to impale this dancing, living creature upon the stake of meaning.· That men are living creatures is a contingent fact.· Like all living creatures because House Dust Mites eat, they also excrete.
· Many other creatures feed on the animals that feed in this way, or upon the animals that feed on them.· Amuletic wands were carved from its teeth with the object of deterring snakes and other noxious creatures.· So plants, quite naturally, have the ability to protect themselves from predators, just as all other creatures do.· The other creatures screeched nervously, but they weren't running away.· For Descartes, only humans had souls, animals and other creatures did not.· There was a seal there in some water, a great herring gull with a damaged foot, and other creatures.· Warriors of Chaos, human outcasts from the wars, flocked to join the Beastmen and other creatures of Chaos.· But it was a place that drew other creatures to its calm, to rest awhile and find their strength again.
· My poor creature, you see, is not like all the other grim shades who have preceded him.· Oh, come in, come in, you poor creature.· The poor creature must have wondered what was going on, as it was already fully airworthy!· The poor creature lifted itself up on its wobbly front legs and then dragged its hindquarters behind it.· She gave the poor creature a kick, then smiled at me with toothless gums.· I shall do everything in my power to help these poor creatures.· No doubt several of these poor creatures died.· What d' you think you're doing exploiting the poor creature like this?
· These shy creatures may sometimes be seen and have been known to stray on to the road, startling passing motorists.· Would such a shy creature really prey on human offspring?· The panda is a shy creature, not used to being in contact with other animals, particularly humans.· This simple test showed that all mankind was one; but it was difficult to do with exotic or shy creatures.· In the main they are shy creatures, though their speed, strength and agility demand a healthy respect.· The plan will involve studying the behaviour of these shy nocturnal creatures which live in the thickest parts of woods.
· Some grew to a length of two metres and were armed with immense pincers with which they seized smaller creatures.· Or is it simply the way most adults have learned to approach small creatures?· The many small creatures of the oriental forests support a population of small predators.· Then she notices a lady-bug or some such small creature and can not help but become fascinated by it.· The bird, a small creature, abruptly fled.· Unlike most dinosaurs it had sharp teeth with which it ate smaller creatures.· In the kitchen I scoured the cupboards, and poured disinfectant over small black creatures like woodlice.· It is absolutely crucial to the lives of the small creatures that the rock is returned precisely where it was found.
· They are strange little creatures with a shell-like carapace and clinging feeler-like attachments.· The strange but arresting creatures become instant celebrities.· He simply had no idea what these strange creatures could look like in the flesh.· From there, he studied this strange creature more closely.· Soon all my master's neighbours were talking about the strange little creature he had found in a field.· But no person could command these strange creatures more than three times.· What makes us strange creatures tick, Liz, do you know?· Spinning bodies, eyes popping out of heads, hair standing on end, characters morphing into strange creatures.
· It was not possible that such a tiny creature could be showing such fearful strength; and yet it did.· Directly below her were some tiny creatures crawling over the surface.· How can a tiny creature like you have such inhuman, cruel ideas?· Jackie sat on the edge of his bed, a tiny, spiky creature, utterly alone.· Inside, the tiny creature skidded to a halt on the marble floor, terrified by the sudden din of the gathering.· Maggie stared at people walking about far below, tiny creatures that could hardly be recognized.· She loved this tiny creature so much she didn't know how to contain it, or how to show it enough.· The sheer mass of Snotlings can overwhelm or tie down an enemy unit even if the tiny creatures don't cause many casualties!
· The pair of them were wild, undisciplined creatures.· Where great, wild creatures ranged, the vermin prosper.· All wild creatures behave in the same way when presented with a cache of food and plenty of competition for it.· They need help, my dear, as our wild creatures have needed help, and that is why I must go.· Oh, wild creature, it's you I've dared to demand in the garden of paradise.· The results are frequently fatal to the wild creatures.· And be quick, watchful, clever, like a wild creature that must elude the hunters.· They would tear to pieces the wild creatures they met and devour the bloody shreds of flesh.
NOUN· His attitude towards creature comforts was demonstrated by his regimen in Downing Street.· The crews made on-the-spot modifications to increase protection, firepower, or creature comforts.
· It was like being the first sea creature to crawl on to the shore and discover his gills had become lungs.· A gray gull carries some sea creature high up over the beach, drops it from its beak.· Also unearthed - perfectly preserved examples of the food they lived off - literally hundreds of ammonites and other small sea creatures.· As so often seemed to be the case, the cavorting sea creatures heralded bad weather.· The sense of a deep sea creature, defined only by light, is very strong.
VERB· Our perception of parrots as somehow our rightful property has been destructive for the living creature in its natural environment.· This stated that living creatures multiply at a rate that exceeds the capacity of the environment to maintain them.· And so on down the catalog of living creatures.· There are many other ways of being a living creature.· It was evening; not a house, not a living creature, was to be seen.· Other odd patterns appear as different genes band together-as they must-to build a living creature.
PHRASES FROM THE ENTRYPHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
1living thing anything that is living, such as an animal, fish, or insect, but not a plant: - But I was comfortable in it, ever a creature of habit as I told you earlier.
- Probably not - I am a creature of habit.
- Taurus is a fixed sign, which means you are a creature of habit and are fond of material comforts.
- Dominic remains, I would say, a preposterously beautiful creature.
- Drank five margaritas and waxed poetic about my screenplay to some adorable creature.
- His doe's a beautiful creature, too.
- I was there till I was eighteen: marriage would be fun; husbands were adorable creatures.
- It is the same with visual responses to light and darkness, to summer and winter, to beautiful creatures or plants.
- The Copper Beech Naiads were the most beautiful creatures any of them had ever seen.
- They were beautiful creatures with red legs, black head and thorax, and black white-ringed antennae.
- To me, Dominic was always a beautiful creature.
- We would become like dumb animals, oxen, or go crazy, and probably both.
- Would that as many animal lovers were as quick to speak and defend dumb animals instead of staying silent as so many do.
- You don't have to look far to see these dumb creatures crawling across the branches of many organizations today.
all the living creatures in the seacreatures of the deep (=animals and fish that live in the ocean)► see thesaurus at animal2imaginary or strange an imaginary animal or person, or one that is very strange and frightening: creatures from outer space3a creature of habit someone who always does things in the same way or at the same time4something made or invented formal something, especially something bad, that was made or invented by a particular person or organizationcreature of The poll tax was a creature of the government.5somebody controlled by something someone who is controlled or influenced a lot by somethingcreature of He was a creature of the military government.6beautiful/stupid/adorable etc creature literary someone who has a particular character or quality: He was the most beautiful creature Dot had ever seen.COLLOCATIONSADJECTIVES/NOUN + creaturea living creature· The early Greeks believed that plants were living creatures that felt pain and pleasure.a little/small/tiny creature· tiny creatures such as micea beautiful/magnificent creature· The buffalo is a magnificent creature.a wild creature· Damage to the environment affects all wild creatures.a sea/marine creature (also an ocean creature)· The first living creatures were marine creatures.a furry creature· Town dwellers see the squirrel as a cute furry creature, but to farmers they’re a pest.a dangerous creature· dangerous creatures such as tigersa nocturnal creature (=awake at night and sleeping in the day)· As darkness falls, nocturnal creatures begin to make an appearance.a primitive/simple creature (=one with only a few cells)· primitive creatures like bacteriaa complex creature (=consisting of many different parts)· Human beings are extremely complex creatures.