critter

First attested 1815, from a dialectal pronunciation of creature.

• (General American) enPR: krĭtʹər IPA^(key): /ˈkɹɪtɚ/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈkɹɪtə/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪtə(ɹ)
• Hyphenation: crit‧ter

critter (plural critters)

1. (usually endearing, US, Australia) 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.

2. (rail transport, US) A small locomotive used in an industrial setting.
   • 2025 March 7 (last accessed), R. Craig Rutherford, The Diesel Shop‎^[1]:

     One of the biggest challenges facing a railfan photographer is the correct identification of one manufacturer's "critter" locomotive from that of another competing builder.

• beastie