From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishcreaturecrea‧ture /ˈkriːtʃə $ -ər/ ●●● W3 noun [countable] 1 LIVING THINGHBliving thing anything that is living, such as an animal, fish, or insect, but not a plant all the living creatures in the seacreatures of the deep (=animals and fish that live in the ocean)► see thesaurus at animal2 STRANGEHBTTSimaginary or strange an imaginary animal or person, or one that is very strange and frightening creatures from outer space3 → a creature of habit4 something made or invented formalsomething MADE OR INVENTEDINVENT something, especially something bad, that was made or invented by a particular person or organizationcreature of The poll tax was a creature of the government.5 somebody controlled by somethingsomebody CONTROLLED BY somethingCONTROL someone who is controlled or influenced a lot by somethingcreature of He was a creature of the military government.6 → beautiful/stupid/adorable etc creatureCOLLOCATIONSADJECTIVES/NOUN + creaturea living creatureThe early Greeks believed that plants were living creatures that felt pain and pleasure.a little/small/tiny creaturetiny creatures such as micea beautiful/magnificent creatureThe buffalo is a magnificent creature.a wild creatureDamage to the environment affects all wild creatures.a sea/marine creature (also an ocean creature)The first living creatures were marine creatures.a furry creatureTown dwellers see the squirrel as a cute furry creature, but to farmers they’re a pest.a dangerous creaturedangerous creatures such as tigersa nocturnal creature (=awake at night and sleeping in the day)As darkness falls, nocturnal creatures begin to make an appearance.a primitive/simple creature (=one with only a few cells)primitive creatures like bacteriaa complex creature (=consisting of many different parts)Human beings are extremely complex creatures.
Examples from the Corpus
creature• creatures of the deep• The Housing Board was a creature of Mayor Beller's design.• The movie's about creatures from outer space.• But they, like all creatures, clearly have their own inner life.• Higher still up the Sizewell natural food chain is another creature we had gone especially to find-marine skuas.• They were rare, complex creatures of overwhelming confidence, persistence and ambition.• The pull of the invisible creature grew stronger.• The scale and spirit of the iron creatures on display brought to mind one image: mechanical dinosaurs without skin.• They found a fossil of a small, sparrow-like creature.• Jainism, a Hindu reform church, prohibits the killing of any living creature.• Great big and fearsome Dimetrodon, a species of dinosaur, was the most powerful creature.living creatures• Every living creature is a product of its past.• I will never again destroy every living creature as I have done.• It was evening; not a house, not a living creature, was to be seen.• Our perception of parrots as somehow our rightful property has been destructive for the living creature in its natural environment.• The living creature that I had briefly been might never have existed.• This at least is one joy that must have been known by almost every living creature.• It is a small self-enclosed world with its own miniature atmosphere derived from living creatures.• He enraged biologists by considering the biosphere of living creatures as a large chemical factory.Origin creature (1200-1300) Old French Late Latin creatura, from Latin creare; → CREATE 