animal rights

Save This Word!

plural noun

the rights of animals, claimed on ethical grounds, to the same humane treatment and protection from exploitation and abuse that are accorded to humans.

QUIZ

THINGAMABOB OR THINGUMMY: CAN YOU DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THE US AND UK TERMS IN THIS QUIZ?

Do you know the difference between everyday US and UK terminology? Test yourself with this quiz on words that differ across the Atlantic.

Question 1 of 7

In the UK, COTTON CANDY is more commonly known as…

candystring

candyfloss

candypuff

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Origin of animal rights

First recorded in 1975–80

Words nearby animal rights

Animal Liberation Front, animally, animal magnetism, animal park, animal pole, animal rights, animal shelter, animal spirits, animal starch, animate, animated

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use animal rights in a sentence

Bob Zimbal, third-generation owner of Zimbal Farms and Minkery, one of the state’s largest operations with about 100,000 minks, called the statement “propaganda,” and said animal rights groups are using the pandemic to try to shut down the industry.
Mink farmers are skipping to the front of the vaccine line — for an important reason|Dan Simmons|February 19, 2021|Washington Post
The profile also described Limbaugh using “Born Free” to open an animal rights update — a takedown of animal rights activists.
Restoring the Fairness Doctrine can’t prevent another Rush Limbaugh|Heather Hendershot|February 19, 2021|Washington Post
Singer, who is also the author of the seminal 1975 book Animal Liberation that helped launch the animal rights movement, can now say it twice.
The world’s problems overwhelmed me. This book empowered me.|Kelsey Piper|December 11, 2020|Vox
He said he had to turn down bike-safety and animal rights groups that approached him about legislation.
As Virginia Democrats rein themselves in with bill limits, some legislators see lost opportunities|Laura Vozzella|November 29, 2020|Washington Post

All of the women worked with an animal rights organization called Direct Action Everywhere.
No Unlawful Assembly Charges So Far Following Dozens of Arrests|Brittany Cruz-Fejeran and Ashly McGlone|October 12, 2020|Voice of San Diego
Yes, animal rights activists are trying to ban the eating of cats and dogs in Switzerland.
Will the Swiss Quit Cooking their Kittens and Puppies?|Barbie Latza Nadeau|November 30, 2014|DAILY BEAST
But the Playboy Playmate and hardcore animal-rights activist has long been a major-league advocate for the State of Israel.
Pamela Anderson Is Israel’s No. 1 Fan|Asawin Suebsaeng|November 7, 2014|DAILY BEAST
To some people, keeping orcas in metal cans is violent animal-rights abuse; to others it is apparently “normal and legal.”
Activists: Moscow Sea Park Is ‘Torturing’ Its Orca Whales|Anna Nemtsova|October 27, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Armed guards kept animal rights activists shouting “assassins” at bay.
The Dog is Dead—And We’ll Never Know if He Had Ebola|Barbie Latza Nadeau|October 9, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Many Hollywood stars today care about the environment, or gay rights, or animal rights, or what have you.
Lauren Bacall Was Deeply Liberal and Deeply Anti-Communist|Michael Tomasky|August 13, 2014|DAILY BEAST

British Dictionary definitions for animal rights

animal rights

pl n

the rights of animals to be protected from exploitation and abuse by humans
(as modifier)the animal-rights lobby

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012