ferret
1 Americannoun
-
a domesticated, usually red-eyed, and albinic variety of the polecat, used in Europe for driving rabbits and rats from their burrows.
verb (used with object)
-
to drive out by using or as if using a ferret (often followed byout ).
to ferret rabbits from their burrows;
to ferret out enemies.
-
to hunt with ferrets.
-
to hunt over with ferrets.
to ferret a field.
-
to search out, discover, or bring to light (often followed byout ).
to ferret out the facts.
-
to harry, worry, or torment.
His problems ferreted him day and night.
verb (used without object)
noun
noun
-
a domesticated albino variety of the polecat Mustela putorius , bred for hunting rats, rabbits, etc
-
an assiduous searcher
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a musteline mammal, Mustela nigripes , of W North America, closely related to the weasels
verb
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to hunt (rabbits, rats, etc) with ferrets
-
to drive from hiding
to ferret out snipers
-
to find by persistent investigation
-
(intr) to search around
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
ferretsimple
-
ferretssimple
-
have ferretedperfect
-
has ferretedperfect
-
am ferretingprogressive
-
are ferretingprogressive
-
is ferretingprogressive
-
have been ferretingperfect progressive
-
has been ferretingperfect progressive
Past
-
ferretedsimple
-
had ferretedperfect
-
was ferretingprogressive
-
were ferretingprogressive
-
had been ferretingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of ferret1
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English feret, furet, from Middle French furet, fuiret, from Vulgar Latin furittus (unrecorded), equivalent to fūr “thief” + -ittus -et
Origin of ferret2
First recorded in 1570–80; alteration of Italian fioretto “floss silk,” literally, “little flower,” equivalent to fior(e) + -etto diminutive ending; see flower, -et
Explanation
You may be familiar with ferrets, those adorable little mammals that look like cheap minks. Well, the verb to ferret means to act like a ferret: to dig for something until you find it. Ferrets are great at digging, so it's no surprise that we acknowledge their skills when we make the verb ferret, which almost always comes attached to the preposition "out." Woodward and Bernstein worked tirelessly to ferret out the names of the guys who raided the Watergate offices. When you're ready, I'm going to ask you to ferret out those two photos from that stack of photo boxes.
Vocabulary lists containing ferret
A Vocabulary Bestiary: Animals That Behave as Verbs
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And Then There Were None
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Amazing Animals, A-Z
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
"We were very excited to see that GHP-88310 given by mouth completely prevented airborne transmission in our ferret model of measles," said first author Carolin Lieber, a senior postdoctoral fellow in the Plemper lab.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 24, 2026
More than 400 ferret traps were laid in 2023.
From BBC ● Mar. 22, 2026
Paul McCartney emerged from the wreckage of the Fab Four in 1970, eager to ferret out a fresh sound.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 27, 2026
They’re all law-abiding people, and this directive ostensibly aims to ferret out terrorists and criminals.
From Slate ● Dec. 17, 2025
He sucked in a deep breath, his lips drawing together to a point, until he looked more ferret than human.
From "The Darkest Minds" by Alexandra Bracken
Researchers at Georgia State University have developed an experimental oral antiviral that prevented a measles-like virus from spreading between ferrets through both close contact and the air.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 24, 2026
In a world-first, Rathlin Island, off the coast of County Antrim, has eradicated ferrets.
From BBC ● Mar. 22, 2026
Taylor ferrets out the secret with her bloodthirsty relentlessness and immediately raises pandemonium.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 24, 2025
A 2022 study in mice and ferrets showed that a universal flu vaccine NIH plans to support has promise.
From Salon ● Sep. 5, 2025
Sela knew exactly how many rats, weasels, stoats and ferrets were able-bodied enough for combat.
From "Redwall" by Brian Jacques
The Agriculture Department ferreted data from 28 states and says it found nearly 186,000 dead recipients.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 7, 2026
In a clever bit of detective work, Yale legal scholar Reva Siegel has ferreted out the vital role that this “seminar” plays in the originalist ecosystem:
From Slate ● May 14, 2024
“Good cops want bad cops ferreted out,” Jenkins said in a recent interview.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 20, 2023
This is a conventionally structured drama: two characters, a single set, the requisite amount of family conflict, a few ferreted out secrets and a dark shadow of menacing politics.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 25, 2022
He was glad that Jimmy thought he’d ferreted out the reason Frankie was late.
From "Time Bomb" by Joelle Charbonneau
Twitter has drastically reduced its staff focused on ferreting out misinformation, hate speech and extremist content since it was bought by Elon Musk.
From Washington Times ● May 5, 2023
In the year or so since Colombia Rural Vital introduced its initiative in Orito, she had become a medical detective of sorts, traveling from village to village, cultivating sources and ferreting out unreported deaths.
From New York Times ● Mar. 29, 2023
At the recent Television Critics Association press tour, Manville claimed that she's not too shabby at ferreting out information herself.
From Salon ● Oct. 16, 2022
“There’s a difference between just seeking more charges against him and ferreting out how deep this goes in the institution,” she said, referring to Garcia.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 10, 2022
A voice materializes out of the distortion in his headphones, then fades, and he goes ferreting after it.
From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
