A
colloquialism referring to any
animal. It's primarily used in
America and
Ireland. It's what's known as a
pronunciation spelling of "
creature" -- in fact, it probably dates back to the 16th and 17th centuries or before, when the "-ture" suffix was still pronounced without the "
ch" sound.
Some critters include the
cougar, the
coyote, the
grouse, the
horse, the
water buffalo, the
mosquito, the
sheepdog, the
rattlesnake, the
bobcat, the
deer, the
Siamese cat, the
longhorn, the
canary, the
rat terrier, the
roadrunner, the
hoop snake, the
field mouse, the
chicken, the
alligator, the
sheep, the
fox, the
brown recluse, the
kestrel, the
moose, the
rabbit, the
beagle, the
rabbit, the
swan, the
pig, the
zebu, the
pit bull, the
owl, the
gopher, the
preying mantis, the
donkey, the
caribou, the
plover, the
vampire bat, the
duck, the
scorpion, the
bison, the
hound dog, the
trout, the
ostrich, the
earthworm, the
giraffe, the
cobra, the
finch, the
elk, the
ox, the
jellyfish, the
poodle, the
camel spider, the
heifer, the
snipe, the
crocodile, the
penguin, the
dachshund, the
honeybee, the
yak, the
jackalope, the
mandrill, the
killer whale, the
sparrow, and the
werewolf.
Some research dug out of www.dictionary.com