animal kingdom

American  

noun

• animal kingdoms
  plural

1. the animals of the world collectively.

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animal kingdom British  

noun

1. a category of living organisms comprising all animals Compare plant kingdom mineral kingdom

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animal kingdom Cultural  

1. The group of living things typically distinguished from members of the plant kingdom by the power of moving from place to place and by a metabolism that does not use photosynthesis.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• animal kingdoms
  plural

Etymology

Origin of animal kingdom

First recorded in 1840–50

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

animal kingdom

Our critic praised the presentation, saying “‘The Ark’ underscores why humanity has always been enamored with the animal kingdom, and reminds us that our stewardship of it should be a labor of love.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 23, 2026

Paired eyes are common throughout the animal kingdom because they help moving animals judge direction, distance, and the location of objects around them.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 26, 2026

The creatures I’m mentioning here aren’t flukes in the animal kingdom.

From Slate ● May 10, 2026

But a string of helpers from the animal kingdom, including eagles, a hedgehog, a red squirrel and a flock of geese, were seen delivering the letter down the British isles.

From BBC ● May 8, 2026

A strain of simian aids virus was recently isolated from a chimpanzee in Gabon, in West Africa, which is, so far, the closest thing to hiv-i that anyone has yet found in the animal kingdom.

From "The Hot Zone" by Richard Preston