possum

[pos-uhm]

noun

1. opossum.

2. Australian.,  any of various phalangers, especially of the genus Trichosurus.

possum

/ ˈpɒsəm /

noun

1. an informal name for opossum

2. Also called: phalanger. any of various Australasian arboreal marsupials, such as Trichosurus vulpecula ( brush-tailed phalanger ), having dense fur and a long tail: family Phalangeridae

3. to pretend to be dead, ignorant, asleep, etc, in order to deceive an opponent

Word History and Origins

Origin of possum¹

1605–15, short for opossum

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. play possum,

   1. to feign sleep or death.

   2. to dissemble or pretend ignorance.

      The baseball broke the window, but the children played possum when asked who had thrown it.

see play possum.

Example Sentences

His mission: find and eliminate brushtail possums, an intruder that eats baby birds and strips vegetation from native trees.

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And yet, we were flooded with Democratic operatives like James Carville, who openly use the phrase “playing possum” when describing how the party should respond.

Read more on Salon

On the back patio, he said the man used a statue to kill a possum and found bags containing what he suspects were drugs.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

No wonder Craig feels more like a bunch of possums in a skin suit.

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Affectionately dubbed Putricia, it will release a smell described as "wet socks, hot cat food, or rotting possum flesh".

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When To Use

Plural word for possum

The plural form of possum is possums. The plurals of several other singular words that end in -um are also formed in this way, including museum/museums and drum/drums.Possum is pluralized in the regular, or standard, way of adding an -s to the end of the word.In some nouns that end in -um that are derived from Latin, the irregular plural ending -a may be used instead, as in memorandum/memoranda and curriculum/curricula. These nouns are considered irregular nouns. However, the -a ending isn’t valid for possum, because the word derives from the Virginia Algonquian term (with English spelling) opussum. Possa would be an invalid plural for possum.