skunk

[ skuhngk ]
See synonyms for: skunkskunkedskunking on Thesaurus.com

noun,plural skunks, (especially collectively) skunk.
  1. a small North American mammal, Mephitis mephitis, of the weasel family, having a black coat with a white, V-shaped stripe on the back, and ejecting a fetid odor when alarmed or attacked.

  2. any of several related or similar animals.: Compare hog-nosed skunk, spotted skunk.

  1. Informal. a thoroughly contemptible person.

  2. U.S. Navy Slang. an unidentified ship or target.

verb (used with object)
  1. Slang. to defeat thoroughly in a game, especially while keeping an opponent from scoring: The team skunked the favorites in the crucial game.

Origin of skunk

1
1625–35, Americanism;< the Massachusett reflex of Proto-Algonquian *šeka·kwa (derivative of *šek- urinate + -a·kw fox, foxlike animal

Words Nearby skunk

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How to use skunk in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for skunk

skunk

/ (skʌŋk) /


nounplural skunks or skunk
  1. any of various American musteline mammals of the subfamily Mephitinae, esp Mephitis mephitis (striped skunk), typically having a black and white coat and bushy tail: they eject an unpleasant-smelling fluid from the anal gland when attacked

  2. informal a despicable person

  1. slang a strain of cannabis smoked for its exceptionally powerful psychoactive properties

verb
  1. (tr) US and Canadian slang to defeat overwhelmingly in a game

Origin of skunk

1
C17: from Algonquian; compare Abnaki segākw skunk

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012