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polecat
WORDNET DICTIONARY
Noun polecat has 2 senses
- polecat(n = noun.animal) skunk, wood pussy - American musteline mammal typically ejecting an intensely malodorous fluid when startled; in some classifications put in a separate subfamily Mephitinae; Array is a kind of mustelid, musteline, musteline mammal
- polecat(n = noun.animal) fitch, foulmart, foumart, mustela putorius - dark brown mustelid of woodlands of Eurasia that gives off an unpleasant odor when threatened; Array is a kind of mustelid, musteline, musteline mammal
has particulars: mephitis mephitis, striped skunk, hooded skunk, mephitis macroura, badger skunk, conepatus leuconotus, hog-nosed skunk, hognosed skunk, rooter skunk, little spotted skunk, spilogale putorius, spotted skunk
is a member of genus mustela, mustela
has particulars: ferret
CIDE DICTIONARY
polecat, n. [Probably fr. F. poule hen, and originally, a poultry cat, because it feeds on poultry. See Poultry.].
A small European carnivore of the Weasel family (Putorius fœtidus ). Its scent glands secrete a substance of an exceedingly disagreeable odor. Called also fitchet , foulmart , and European ferret . [1913 Webster]
OXFORD DICTIONARY
polecat, n.
1 Brit. a small European brownish-black fetid flesh-eating mammal, Mustela putorius, of the weasel family.
2 US a skunk.
1 Brit. a small European brownish-black fetid flesh-eating mammal, Mustela putorius, of the weasel family.
2 US a skunk.
Etymology
pole (unexplained) + CAT
THESAURUS
polecat
Cape polecat, animal, ape, bar, bear, beast, cavy, chimp, chimpanzee, coon, cur, dog, ferret, foumart, glutton, groundhog, guinea pig, hedgehog, hound, hyena, insect, mongrel, monk, monkey, mousehound, opossum, pig, porcupine, possum, prairie dog, quill pig, raccoon, reptile, rotten egg, serpent, skunk, snake, stink ball, stink bomb, stinkard, stinker, stinkpot, swine, varmint, vermin, viper, weasel, whelp, whistle-pig, wolverine, woodchuck, worm, zorilROGET THESAURUS
polecat
Fetor
N fetor, bad, smell, bad odor, stench, stink, foul odor, malodor, empyreuma, mustiness, rancidity, foulness, stoat, polecat, skunk, assafoetida, fungus, garlic, stinkpot, fitchet, fitchew, fourmart, peccary, acridity, fetid, strong-smelling, high, bad, strong, fulsome, offensive, noisome, rank, rancid, reasty, tainted, musty, fusty, frouzy, olid, olidous, nidorous, smelling, stinking, putrid, suffocating, mephitic, empyreumatic.
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