Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A chiefly nocturnal mustelid mammal (Mustela putorius) of Europe that ejects a malodorous fluid to mark its territory and defend itself from predators.
- noun Either of two similar mammals, Mustela eversmanii of the Central Asian steppes, having a light brown coat with a black mask, or Vormela peregusna of Eurasia, having a mottled yellow and brown coat.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun The fitchew or foulmart, Putorius fœtidus of Europe, of a dark-brown color, with a copious fine pelage much used in furriery and for making artists' brushes. See
fitch . - noun One of several other quadrupeds, mostly of the family Mustelidæ, which have a strong offensive smell.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun A small European carnivore of the Weasel family (
Putorius fœtidus ). Its scent glands secrete a substance of an exceedingly disagreeable odor. Called alsofitchet ,foulmart , andEuropean ferret . - noun The zorilla. The name is also applied to other allied species.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A
weasel -like animal of the genusMustela , notably the European polecat, Mustela putorius. - noun US, dialect A
skunk .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun dark brown mustelid of woodlands of Eurasia that gives off an unpleasant odor when threatened
- noun American musteline mammal typically ejecting an intensely malodorous fluid when startled; in some classifications put in a separate subfamily Mephitinae
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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He possessed all his teeth but one, and most of his hair as well, though his side-whiskers had lately broken out in polecat streaks of gray.
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"The great peculiarity in one of these birds was that he, as the seasons succeeded each other, was not always a hen-cock, and not always of the colour called the polecat, which is black.
The Variation of Animals and Plants Under Domestication, Vol. I. Charles Darwin 1845
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On one hunting expedition I caught an animal known as a polecat, and that betrayed me, because its scent got on the dogs.
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Its rind was said to exude a stench of so atrocious a nature that when a dorian was in the room even the presence of a polecat was a refreshment.
Following the Equator Mark Twain 1872
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Its rind was said to exude a stench of so atrocious a nature that when a dorian was in the room even the presence of a polecat was a refreshment.
Following the Equator, Part 5 Mark Twain 1872
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The hamsters are very fierce little creatures: constantly fighting with other quadrupeds, and even among themselves; but the polecat is their master and tyrant, and carries on a war of extermination against them -- following them through the intricate ways of their burrows, and destroying them even in their dens!
Quadrupeds, What They Are and Where Found A Book of Zoology for Boys Mayne Reid 1850
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The name probably relates to a poor translation of the name for the European polecat, which is a relative of the fisher and is called the fitch ferret, fichet or fitche.
YubaNet.com 2010
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The name probably relates to a poor translation of the name for the European polecat, which is a relative of the fisher and is called the fitch ferret, fichet or fitche.
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But, for reals, a polecat is a type of weasel or skunk.
Blogger News Network 2009
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And I especially like how "polecat" is just another word for "skunk."
Archive 2006-07-01 Walter Jon Williams 2006
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