Adjacent Words

Opossum definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

OPOS'SUM, n. A quadruped of the genus Didelphis. It has a prehensile tail, like some of the monkeys, and is distinguished by a pouch or false belly, in which it protects and carries its young. The name is also given to other species of the genus, some of which want the pouch.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: small furry Australian arboreal marsupials having long usually prehensile tails [syn: phalanger, opossum, possum]
2: nocturnal arboreal marsupial having a naked prehensile tail found from southern North America to northern South America [syn: opossum, possum]

Merriam Webster's

noun (plural opossums; also opossum) Etymology: earlier apossoun, opassom, Virginia Algonquian, from Algonquian *wa•p- white + *-a??emw- dog Date: 1610 1. any of a family (Didelphidae) of American marsupials that usually have a pointed snout and prehensile tail; especially a common omnivorous largely nocturnal mammal (Didelphis virginiana) of North America that has grayish to blackish fur with white on the cheeks and is an expert climber 2. any of several Australian phalangers

Britannica Concise

Any of about 66 species (family Didelphidae) of New World, mostly arboreal, nocturnal marsupials. Highly adaptable and reproductively fertile, opossums have changed little in millions of years. The N. Amer. species, the stout-bodied common, or Virginia, opossum (Didelphis marsupialis), grows to 40 in. (100 cm) long. It is largely white, and has an opposable clawless toe on each hind foot; with its long, naked, prehensile tail, it resembles a large rat. Up to 25 grublike, 0.07-oz (2-g) newborns compete for the 13 nipples in the pouch, where the survivors spend four or five weeks; they spend the following eight to nine weeks clinging to the mother's back. The common opossum may feign death ("play possum") if surprised. It eats small animals, insects, and fruit, and sometimes domestic poultry and cultivated grain.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. 1 a any mainly tree-living marsupial of the family Didelphidae, native to America, having a prehensile tail and hind feet with an opposable thumb. b (in full water opossum) an opossum, Chironectes minimus, suited to an aquatic habitat and having webbed hind feet. Also called YAPOK. 2 Austral. & NZ = POSSUM 2. Etymology: Virginian Ind. apassum

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Opossum O*pos"sum, n. [Of N. American Indian origin.] (Zo["o]l.) Any American marsupial of the genera Didelphys and Chironectes. The common species of the United States is Didelphys Virginiana.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(opossums) An opossum is a small animal that lives in America. It carries its young in a pouch on its body, and has thick fur and a long tail. N-VAR

Moby Thesaurus

Angora goat, Arctic fox, Belgian hare, Caffre cat, Cape polecat, Indian buffalo, Kodiak bear, Virginia deer, aardvark, aardwolf, alpaca, anteater, antelope, antelope chipmunk, aoudad, apar, ape, armadillo, ass, aurochs, badger, bandicoot, bar, bassarisk, bat, bear, beaver, bettong, binturong, bison, black bear, black buck, black cat, black fox, black sheep, blue fox, bobcat, brown bear, brush deer, brush wolf, buffalo, buffalo wolf, burro, burro deer, cachalot, camel, camelopard, capybara, carabao, caribou, carpincho, cat, cat-a-mountain, catamount, cattalo, cavy, chamois, cheetah, chevrotain, chimp, chimpanzee, chinchilla, chipmunk, cinnamon bear, coon, coon cat, cotton mouse, cotton rat, cougar, cow, coyote, coypu, deer, deer tiger, dingo, dog, donkey, dormouse, dromedary, echidna, eland, elephant, elk, ermine, eyra, fallow deer, ferret, field mouse, fisher, fitch, flying phalanger, foumart, fox, fox squirrel, gazelle, gemsbok, genet, giraffe, glutton, gnu, gnu goat, goat, goat antelope, gopher, grizzly bear, ground squirrel, groundhog, guanaco, guinea pig, hamster, hare, harnessed antelope, hartebeest, hedgehog, hippopotamus, hog, horse, hyena, hyrax, ibex, jackal, jackass, jackrabbit, jaguar, jaguarundi, jerboa, jerboa kangaroo, kaama, kangaroo, kangaroo mouse, kangaroo rat, karakul, kinkajou, kit fox, koala, lapin, lemming, leopard, leopard cat, lion, llama, lynx, mammoth, mara, marmot, marten, mastodon, meerkat, mink, mole, mongoose, monk, monkey, moose, mouflon, mountain goat, mountain lion, mountain sheep, mouse, mousehound, mule, mule deer, muntjac, musk deer, musk hog, musk-ox, muskrat, musquash, nilgai, nutria, ocelot, okapi, onager, oont, otter, ounce, ox, pack rat, painter, panda, pangolin, panther, peccary, peludo, phalanger, pig, pine mouse, platypus, pocket gopher, pocket mouse, pocket rat, polar bear, polar fox, polecat, porcupine, possum, pouched rat, poyou, prairie dog, prairie wolf, pronghorn, puma, quill pig, rabbit, raccoon, rat, red deer, red squirrel, reindeer, rhinoceros, roe, roe deer, roebuck, sable, serval, sheep, shrew, shrew mole, sika, silver fox, skunk, sloth, snowshoe rabbit, springbok, squirrel, stoat, suslik, swamp rabbit, swine, takin, tamandua, tamarin, tapir, tarpan, tatou, tatou peba, tatouay, tiger, tiger cat, timber wolf, tree shrew, urus, vole, wallaby, warthog, water buffalo, waterbuck, weasel, wharf rat, whistle-pig, whistler, white fox, wild ass, wild boar, wild goat, wild ox, wildcat, wildebeest, wolf, wolverine, wombat, wood rat, woodchuck, woolly mammoth, yak, zebra, zebu, zoril