pet

noun

1. An animal kept as a companion or otherwise for pleasure, rather than for some practical benefit or use.
2. (broadly)Something kept as a companion, including inanimate objects (pet rock, pet plant, etc.).

   “Papyrus: This is my brother's pet rock. He always forgets to feed it. As usual, I have to take responsibility.”

3. One who is excessively loyal to a superior and receives preferential treatment.
4. Any person or animal especially cherished and indulged; a darling.

   “At first she sat silent; but that could not last: she had resolved to make a pet of her little cousin, as she would have him to be; and she commenced stroking his curls, and kissing his cheek, and offering him tea in her saucer, like a baby.”

   “the love of cronies, pets, and favourites”

5. A fit of petulance, a sulk, arising from the impression that one has been offended or slighted.

   “His genius at this time was of a decidedly gloomy cast. He brought his mother a tragedy, in which, though he killed sixteen people before the second act, it made her laugh so, that he thrust the masterpiece into the fire in a pet.”

   “There was something ludicrous, even more, unbecoming a gentleman, in leaving a friend's house in a pet, with the host's reproaches sounding in his ears, to be matched only by the bitterness of the guest's sneering retorts.”

   “Buck Mulligan sat down in a sudden pet.”

6. (abbreviation, alt-of)Abbreviation of petition.
7. (Geordie, Ireland)A term of endearment usually applied to women and children.
8. (abbreviation, alt-of, initialism, uncountable)Initialism of polyethylene terephthalate.

   “An effort was made to fit the flexible tube at least 3 mm deep onto the vasculature; (2) for the remaining systems, 3D-printed polyethylene terephthalate (PET) reservoir blocks were manufactured by PrintPlace using FDM technology. The additively manufactured PET reservoir blocks were previously applied and proven to effectively circulate the agent through the healing network [6].”

9. (abbreviation, acronym, alt-of, countable, uncountable)Acronym of positron emission tomography.

   “He [Rob Beanlands] is a founding director of the National Cardiac PET Centre, the first facility in Canada dedicated to the use of PET (positron-emission tomography) as a non-invasive cardiac diagnostic tool. PET technology can help determine whether areas of the heart muscle are receiving enough blood, if there is heart damage or scar tissue in the heart, or if there is a buildup of abnormal substances in the heart muscle.”

10. (abbreviation, acronym, alt-of, countable)Acronym of paired-end tag.
11. (abbreviation, acronym, alt-of, countable, historical)Acronym of personal electronic transactor, a line of personal computers produced by Commodore International.

    “Why is the order of graphical characters in the PETSCII table so seemingly haphazard? The answer is that arrangement was dictated by the PET keyboard design, a hardware-driven decision.”

12. (abbreviation, alt-of, countable, initialism, uncountable)Initialism of perineal ectopic testis (a rare congenital anomaly of the testis).

verb

1. (transitive)To stroke or fondle (an animal).

   “I really love to pet cute puppies.”

2. (informal, intransitive, transitive)To stroke or fondle (another person) amorously.

   “We started petting each other the moment we were alone.”

   “1970-1975, Lou Sullivan, personal diary, quoted in 2019, Ellis Martin, Zach Ozma (editors), We Both Laughed In Pleasure We kissed & petted for about 15 mins & he still wasn't hard, altho he acted like he was enjoying himself.”

3. (dated, transitive)To keep or treat (an animal) as a pet.

   “Deer are often tamed and petted, and their flesh is so much esteemed by all Malays, that it is very natural they should endeavour to introduce them into the remote islands in which they settled, and whose luxuriant forests seem so well adapted for their subsistence.”

4. (dated, transitive)To treat (someone) as a pet; to fondle; to indulge.

   “His daughter was petted and spoiled.”

   “[…] the American dramatist has had to waste most of his first act elaborately planting the information that his Mister Quex is rich, petted by Society, and altogether more spectacular than the common run of men.”

5. (archaic, intransitive)To be a pet.
6. (archaic, intransitive)To be peevish; to sulk.

   “He sure is queasie stomach't that must pet, and puke, at such a trivial circumstance”

7. To be petulant or upset; to have a problem with.

   “Got suttin' in the glove compartment and I won't pet to use it”

adj

1. (figuratively, not-comparable)Favourite; cherished; the focus of one's (usually positive) attention.

   “a pet project”

   “a pet child”

   “The professor seemed offended by the criticism of her pet theory.”

   “Some young lady's pet curate.”

   “Major Butler has a pet grievance and a pet aversion, which he forces on the reader in every chapter, and which becomes at last very wearisome.”

2. (literally, not-comparable)Kept or treated as a pet.

   “pet rock”

3. (not-comparable, obsolete)Good; ideal.

   ““Now,” said Hands, “look there; there’s a pet bit for to beach a ship in. Fine flat sand, never a cat's paw, trees all around of it, and flowers a-blowing like a garding on that old ship.””

name

1. (Canadian, abbreviation, alt-of, initialism)Initialism of Pierre Elliott Trudeau.

   “But Wright takes a rather contrarian position about the impact of emotionally charged Trudeaumania on PET’s astonishing political rise in 1968.”