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
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to drive from hiding
to ferret out snipers
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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
Bell said getting rid of an "aggressive predator" like a ferret in a "unique" environment like Rathlin showed what could be achieved.
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
“Mow ami, if you wish to catch a rabbit you put a ferret into the hole, and if the rabbit is there he runs. That is all I have done.”
From "Murder on the Orient Express" by Agatha Christie
Some ferrets that drank the raw milk became infected, but those that ate the raw milk cheese did not.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 21, 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
A Hampshire MP is set to see a law he proposed to clampdown on the smuggling of dogs, cats and ferrets formally adopted.
From BBC ● Jul. 4, 2025
Last summer, Kawaoka exposed ferrets in his laboratory to that viral strain.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 12, 2025
Rats, ferrets, weasels and stoats fought with the ferocity born of desperation.
From "Redwall" by Brian Jacques
Smith, for his part, is dubious about the veracity of the ransom notes - and believes Guthrie was ferreted down to Mexico where she could more easily be kept out of sight.
From BBC ● Jun. 25, 2026
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
Effective today it is not just a point of contention, it is a sin, to be ferreted out through rumor and whisper, to be punished by reprisals, unstated but ever present.
From Slate ● Jan. 23, 2025
“Good cops want bad cops ferreted out,” Jenkins said in a recent interview.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 20, 2023
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
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
As passive index-tracking has allowed most investors to disengage from corporate boards, the market needs more investors willing to spend the time and money ferreting out information and identifying undervalued companies.
From Reuters ● Mar. 3, 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.
