If you can convert a man by callin' him a polecat, why, call him one, of course.
But you must remember that a polecat is only dangerous when frightened.
Like others of its tribe, the polecat kills more prey than it needs.
Kaug, in these dialects is a porcupine, and She kaug a polecat.
The polecat is the most exclusive of animals—the garlic of vegetables.
Thats a polecat, the cruellest and most bloodthirsty beast in creation.
The foyne appears to have been the same as the polecat or fitchet.
Husband rolling in drunk, stink of pub off him like a polecat.
The polecat, weasel, and stoat are often too abundant for keepers of poultry.
I reckon I'd as soon bleed a polecat as a Ryan, if I yearned for blood.
early 14c., from cat (n.); the first element is perhaps Anglo-French pol, from Old French poule "fowl, hen" (see pullet (n.)); so called because it preys on poultry [Klein]. The other alternative is that the first element is from Old French pulent "stinking," for obvious reasons. Originally the European Putorius foetidus; also applied to related U.S. skunks since 1680s.
