pet

noun
/pɛt/

An animal kept as a companion or otherwise for pleasure, rather than for some practical benefit or use.

Example

“My dog Fido has been a loyal pet for ten years.”

Other meanings

Something kept as a companion, including inanimate objects.
One who is excessively loyal to a superior and receives preferential treatment.

A kind of

animal

Example sentences

“Why would you want a pet turtle?”
Tatoeba · shekitten · CC0
“Cookie gets jealous when you pet other dogs.”
Tatoeba · Miktsoanit · CC0
“Wild animals are not pets.”
Tatoeba · deniko · CC0

Word history

From Scottish Gaelic "peata" (pet, tamed animal, spoiled child).

Where this comes from

This definition is adapted from “pet” on Wiktionary, by its contributors; example sentences are from Tatoeba, credited to their authors above; related-word lists use Open English WordNet (CC BY 4.0, based on Princeton WordNet), published under CC BY-SA 4.0. This page is published under the same licence.