warm-blooded

/ˌˈwɔrm ˌblʌdəd/

A warm-blooded animal can keep its body temperature higher (or lower) than the environment around it. Humans, crows, and cats are all warm-blooded; spiders, snakes, and goldfish are not.

The more scientific term for a warm-blooded animal is an endotherm, or an animal that uses its metabolism to regulate its body temperature. If you take your temperature while standing in the snow, it will be nearly the same as when you're hanging out on the beach in the summer — because you're a warm-blooded endotherm. Animals that don't fall into this category, like reptiles and insects, are cold-blooded, also known as ectotherms.

Definitions of warm-blooded

1. adjective

   having warm blood (in animals whose body temperature is internally regulated)
   synonyms: endothermic

   homeothermic, homoiothermic, homothermic

   of birds and mammals; having constant and relatively high body temperature

   antonyms:

   cold-blooded

   having cold blood (in animals whose body temperature is not internally regulated)

   ectothermic, heterothermic, poikilothermic, poikilothermous

   of animals except birds and mammals; having body temperature that varies with the environment