释义 |
creature /ˈkriːtʃə /noun1An animal, as distinct from a human being: night sounds of birds and other creatures...- Reptiles are cold blooded scaly creatures like snakes, lizards, crocodiles and turtles, who are all descendants of the primitive reptile.
- These creatures are quite distinct from fish, crustaceans, and molluscs.
- One finds here myriads of beings and creatures with distinct characteristics.
Synonyms animal, beast, brute; living thing, living entity, living soul, soul, mortal, being, life form, organism informal critter 1.1An animal or person: as fellow creatures on this planet, animals deserve respect...- I look forward to sharing a lasting trust with my fellow creatures, learning from their ways and restoring that relationship we used to have with the animals given to our care.
- We Homo sapiens are fascinated by observing our fellow creatures as they go about their daily grind - eating, sleeping, courting.
- We, and our fellow creatures, will be the beneficiaries.
1.2A fictional or imaginary being: a creature from outer space...- As a preliminary step to painting, we briefly discussed the fact that dragons are imaginary creatures.
- The fantasy creature category contained such imaginary creatures as fairy, hairy Cyclops, and gremlin.
- I remember a time as a child when my sister and I shared an imaginary world of made-up creatures.
1.3 [with adjective] A person of a specified kind: you heartless creature!...- Rachel moved her eyes down to this charming creature's face.
- Spin fantasies in your head, she's probably the most charming and intelligent creature on earth.
- But do not expect any lovable creatures and charming subjects here.
Synonyms fellow, individual, character, wretch, beggar, soul; person, personage, human being, human, man, woman, boy, girl informal devil, bunny, cookie, customer, sort, type, thing British informal chap, bloke, geezer, bod, kid, brat North American informal dude, hombre, guy, gal informal, dated body, dog British informal, dated cove vulgar slang bastard British vulgar slang sod, bugger archaic wight 2A person or organization considered to be under the complete control of another: the village teacher was expected to be the creature of his employer...- She was as much a creature of the control freaks as any of the weaker members of the front bench.
- They should also realise that international organisations are the creatures of the governments which created and manage them.
Synonyms minion, lackey, flunkey, hireling, subordinate, servant, retainer, vassal; puppet, pawn, tool, instrument, cat's paw, dupe informal skivvy, stooge, sucker, yes-man British informal poodle, dogsbody North American informal gofer 3 archaic Anything living or existing: dress, jewels, and other transitory creatures...- In addition, there will be different variations of existing creatures.
- Like organic creatures, copyrights used to age and wither away.
- An ancient race of horrible organic creatures becomes a threat.
PhrasesDerivativescreaturely adjective ...- It's actually an act of being civilised not because of the element of personal service, but because it exerts control over your creaturely self.
- We laugh at deflated pride and at human inadequacies exposed - the ridiculous attempts of a creaturely nature to transcend its very obvious limitations.
- While creaturely existence may entail undeserved suffering, it does not mandate silence and submission.
OriginMiddle English (in the sense 'something created'): via Old French from late Latin creatura, from the verb creare (see create). The earliest recorded sense of creature in English is ‘anything created’, and the word is from Latin creatura ‘a created being’. This is the meaning the poet William Cowper (1731–1800) had in mind when he wrote in 1783, ‘The first boat or canoe that was ever formed…was a more perfect creature in its kind than a balloon at present.’ Create (Late Middle English) originally meant ‘to form out of nothing’. Recreation (Late Middle English) came via Old French from Latin recreare ‘create again, renew’, which gives the word the notion of ‘refreshment’.
Rhymesbleacher, feature, headteacher, Katowice, Nietzsche, preacher, screecher, teacher |