From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishcrittercrit‧ter /ˈkrɪtə $ -ər/ noun [countable] American English spoken HBa creature, especially an animal
Examples from the Corpus
critter• This is unfortunate because wasps are nasty little critters whose sole aim in life is to ruin picnics and barbecues.• John feels happy for the little critter.• Frogs and toads are tough little critters.• Despite its speed, Teraflops is more of a mainstream critter.• Now the pampered critters are off to the slaughterhouse.• In other words, humans are sometimes spookier than the critters.• I sometimes come down here to feed those critters on my way home.• It is these tiny critters that help keep Maine green, by keeping people out.• The young critters were trotted out to put on a show for the kids.Origin critter (1800-1900) creature