Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Animals that have not been domesticated or tamed and are usually living in a natural environment, including both game and nongame species.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun animals living and plants growing in their natural environment
  • noun slang members of a college fraternity

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun all living things (except people) that are undomesticated

Etymologies

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Examples

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  • "In a press conference today previewing a House Republican trip to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge that’s meant to promote drilling, House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) doubted the existence of actual wildlife in the refuge. “We’re going to look at this barren, Arctic desert where I’m hoping to see some wildlife,�? said Boehner. “But I understand there’s none there.�?

    -ThinkProgress.

    This comes as a great surprise to most Alaskans, not to mention the bears (polar, brown, and black) wolves, foxes, musk oxen, wolverines, moose, Dall sheep, hares, marmots, pika, fish, and countless native and migrating bird species that live there. Oh...and the 600,000 caribou in the Porcupine herd.

    July 17, 2008

  • *eye roll*

    Why don't we relocate Boehner to ANWR? Then he can say with certainty that a creature lives there.

    July 22, 2008

  • *reads WordNet definition*

    What about undomesticated people?

    July 22, 2008

  • "More than a million native animals may have perished in Victoria's fire inferno, a wildlife expert says.

    ...

    The wildfires cut through parks and forests and sent countless wombats and other native species fleeing. One resident reported seeing kangaroos bouncing down the road with flames at their backs. 'It is devastating, the actual size of the destruction is devastating to a number of wildlife populations,' Ms (Gayle) Chappell said."

    - Fires may have killed a million animals, ninemsn.com.au, 12 Feb 2009.

    February 13, 2009