opossum

[ uh-pos-uhm, pos-uhm ]

/ əˈpɒs əm, ˈpɒs əm /

Save This Word!

See synonyms for opossum on Thesaurus.com

noun, plural o·pos·sums, (especially collectively) o·pos·sum.

a prehensile-tailed marsupial, Didelphis virginiana, of the eastern U.S., the female having an abdominal pouch in which its young are carried: noted for the habit of feigning death when in danger.

any of various animals of related genera.

QUIZ

CAN YOU ANSWER THESE COMMON GRAMMAR DEBATES?

There are grammar debates that never die; and the ones highlighted in the questions in this quiz are sure to rile everyone up once again. Do you know how to answer the questions that cause some of the greatest grammar debates?

Question 1 of 7

Which sentence is correct?

His boss, whom he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

His boss, who he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Also called possum.

Origin of opossum

First recorded in 1600–10, Americanism; from Virginia Algonquian (English spelling) opassom, opussum, aposoum (equivalent to Proto-Algonquian (unattested) wa˙p- “white” + (unattested) -aʔθemw- “dog”)

Words nearby opossum

Opium War, Opium Wars, OPM, Opole, Oporto, opossum, opossum block, opossum shrimp, opotherapy, opp., Oppenheim

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use opossum in a sentence

Kiyonari says his team is looking for other ways to tweak opossum genes to study the animals’ organ development.
An albino opossum proves CRISPR works for marsupials, too|Casey Crownhart|July 21, 2021|MIT Technology Review
The researchers had to navigate a few hurdles to edit the opossum genome.
An albino opossum proves CRISPR works for marsupials, too|Casey Crownhart|July 21, 2021|MIT Technology Review
Another interesting characteristic of opossums is that they are born after only 14 days, as barely more than balls of cells with forearms to help them crawl onto their mother’s chest.
An albino opossum proves CRISPR works for marsupials, too|Casey Crownhart|July 21, 2021|MIT Technology Review
A team of researchers at Japan’s Riken Institute, a national research facility, have used the technology to edit the genes of a South American species of opossum.
An albino opossum proves CRISPR works for marsupials, too|Casey Crownhart|July 21, 2021|MIT Technology Review

By changing when the lights turned off in the labs, researchers got the opossums to mate later in the evening so that the eggs would be ready to work with in the morning, about a day and a half later.
An albino opossum proves CRISPR works for marsupials, too|Casey Crownhart|July 21, 2021|MIT Technology Review
This little animal, the smallest and most beautiful of the opossum tribe, is exceedingly numerous in the vicinity of Port Jackson.
Narrative of a Survey of the Intertropical and Western Coasts of Australia] [Volume 2 of 2]|Phillip Parker King
The parts of generation of the male and female marmose resemble, by their form and their position, those of the opossum.
Buffon's Natural History. Volume VII (of 10)|Georges Louis Leclerc de Buffon
Meantime Jacky had killed his opossum and was now following their trail at an easy trot.
It Is Never Too Late to Mend|Charles Reade
I carried mine in my long, luxuriant hair, which I wore “bun” fashion, held in a net of opossum hair.
The Adventures of Louis de Rougemont|Louis de Rougemont
They also busied themselves in making garments of various kinds from opossum skins.
The Adventures of Louis de Rougemont|Louis de Rougemont

British Dictionary definitions for opossum

opossum

/ (əˈpɒsəm) /

noun plural -sums or -sum

any thick-furred marsupial, esp Didelphis marsupialis (common opossum), of the family Didelphidae of S North, Central, and South America, having an elongated snout and a hairless prehensile tailSometimes (informal) shortened to: possum

Also called (Austral and NZ): possum any of various similar animals, esp the phalanger, Trichosurus vulpecula, of the New Zealand bush

Word Origin for opossum

C17: from Algonquian aposoum; related to Delaware apässum, literally: white beast

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

opossum

Origin of opossum

Words nearby opossum

Words related to opossum

How to use opossum in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for opossum

Word Origin for opossum