SKUNK DEFINITIONS - 10 definitions found
skunk n 1: a person who is deemed to be despicable or contemptible; "only a rotter would do that"; "kill the rat"; "throw the bum out"; "you cowardly little pukes!"; "the British call a contemptible person a `git'" [syn: rotter, dirty dog, rat, skunk, stinker, stinkpot, bum, puke, crumb, lowlife, scum bag, so-and-so, git] 2: a defeat in a game where one side fails to score [syn: shutout, skunk] 3: street names for marijuana [syn: pot, grass, green goddess}, dope, weed, gage, sess, sens, smoke, skunk, locoweed, Mary Jane] 4: American musteline mammal typically ejecting an intensely malodorous fluid when startled; in some classifications put in a separate subfamily Mephitinae [syn: skunk, polecat, wood pussy] v 1: defeat by a lurch [syn: lurch, skunk] Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 11th Edition (2003) Skunk geographical name river 264 miles (425 kilometers) SE Iowa flowing SE into Mississippi River Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 11th Edition (2003) skunk I. noun (plural skunks; also skunk) Etymology: earlier squuncke, from a Massachusett reflex of Algonquian *šeka•kwa, from šek- urinate + -a•kw fox, fox-like animal Date: 1634 1. a. any of various common omnivorous black-and-white New World mammals (especially genus Mephitis) of the weasel family that have a pair of perineal glands from which a secretion of pungent and offensive odor is ejected b. the fur of a skunk 2. an obnoxious or disliked person II. transitive verb Date: 1843 1. a. defeat b. to prevent entirely from scoring or succeeding ; shut out 2. to fail to pay; also cheat Oxford English Reference Dictionary
Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner\'s English Dictionary skunk (skunks) A skunk is a small black and white animal which releases an unpleasant smelling liquid if it is frightened or attacked. Skunks live in America. N-COUNT English Explanatory Dictionary skunk skʌŋk n. & v. --n. 1 a any of various cat-sized flesh-eating mammals of the family Mustelidae, esp. Mephitis mephitis having a distinctive black and white striped fur and able to emit a powerful stench from a liquid secreted by its anal glands as a defence. b its fur. 2 colloq. a thoroughly contemptible person. --v.tr. 1 US sl. defeat. 2 fail to pay (a bill etc.). øskunk-bear US a wolverine. skunk-cabbage US a herbaceous plant, Lysichiton americanum, with an offensive-smelling spathe. [Amer. Ind. segankw, segongw] Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) Skunk \Skunk\, v. t. In games of chance and skill: To defeat (an opponent) (as in cards) so that he fails to gain a point, or (in checkers) to get a king. [Colloq. U. S.] Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) Skunk \Skunk\, n. [Contr. from the Abenaki (American Indian) seganku.] (Zo["o]l.) Any one of several species of American musteline carnivores of the genus Mephitis and allied genera. They have two glands near the anus, secreting an extremely fetid liquid, which the animal ejects at pleasure as a means of defense. Note: The common species of the Eastern United States ({Mephitis mephitica}) is black with more or less white on the body and tail. The spotted skunk ({Spilogale putorius}), native of the Southwestern United States and Mexico, is smaller than the common skunk, and is variously marked with black and white. Skunk bird, Skunk blackbird (Zo["o]l.), the bobolink; -- so called because the male, in the breeding season, is black and white, like a skunk. Skunk cabbage (Bot.), an American aroid herb ({Symplocarpus f[oe]tidus}>) having a reddish hornlike spathe in earliest spring, followed by a cluster of large cabbagelike leaves. It exhales a disagreeable odor. Also called swamp cabbage}. Skunk porpoise. (Zo["o]l.) See under Porpoise. Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 84 Moby Thesaurus words for "skunk": Cape polecat, animal, ape, bar, bear, beast, beat, blank, bulldoze, cavy, chimp, chimpanzee, clobber, coon, cream, cur, defeat utterly, dog, drub, ferret, foumart, glutton, groundhog, guinea pig, hedgehog, hound, hyena, insect, lambaste, larrup, lick, mongrel, monk, monkey, mousehound, opossum, overbear, overwhelm, paste, pig, polecat, porcupine, possum, prairie dog, prick, quill pig, raccoon, reptile, rotten egg, schmear, scum, serpent, shellac, shit, shithead, shut out, smear, snake, snow under, steamroller, stink ball, stink bomb, stinkard, stinker, stinkpot, swine, thrash, toad, turd, varmint, vermin, viper, warning sign, weasel, whelm, whelp, whistle-pig, whitewash, whomp, whop, wolverine, woodchuck, worm, zoril |
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