possum

American  

[pos-uhm] / ˈpɒs əm /

noun

possums plural

1. opossum.

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

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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.

possum British  

/ 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

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possum More Idioms  

1. see play possum.

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Usage

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.

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• possums
  plural

Etymology

Origin of possum

1605–15, short for opossum

Explanation

A possum is a cat-sized nocturnal animal that's known for acting like it's dead when threatened. If you find a white animal with black eyes and ears in your garbage at night, it's probably a possum. The word possum is an informal, regional variation on opossum that's only used in North America. It's especially common in the phrase "playing possum," which refers to the possum's involuntary reaction to fear or harm, falling into a death-like faint, and also to a person who pretends to be innocent. So you might accuse your younger brother, as he shrugs when you ask who ate the last brownie, of playing possum.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

possum possums

Videos of stadium workers capturing a possum in one fan section and spraying gnats on the field during the last few weeks haven’t helped the team’s image.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 25, 2026

A camera trap in Tasmania originally set to photograph quolls captured a possum mother and joey passing nightly to forage.

From BBC ● Mar. 25, 2026

Found among the stuffed animals at one airport gift shop – an actual living possum.

From MarketWatch ● Mar. 19, 2026

A wild possum joined stuffed furry friends in an Australian airport gift shop this week, surprising travellers in an adorable case of hide and squeak.

From Barron's ● Mar. 19, 2026

With him was a man who was known only as Z. Mr. Trepid thought of Z as a shiftless man, slipping in and out of town like a slithery possum.

From "Ruby Holler" by Sharon Creech

In June, Mumbai customs intercepted two passengers arriving from Thailand with dozens of venomous vipers and more than 100 other creatures, including lizards, sunbirds and tree-climbing possums, also arriving from Thailand.

From Barron's ● Oct. 31, 2025

They work: The long finger of the Otago Peninsula, once overrun with possums, is now almost free of them.

From Slate ● Aug. 8, 2025

As a journalist and a volunteer, I’ve set and checked traps called “Trapinators” and “Mammalian Corrections Units” with Predator Free Dunedin, a conservation collective that has battled possums, rats, hedgehogs, and stoats since 2018.

From Slate ● Aug. 8, 2025

At first, he was skeptical possums could be eliminated from the area.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 5, 2024

We had a grass yard in front and in back, and at night raccoons, possums, and skunks walked through the backyard just as if they lived there.

From "Kira-Kira" by Cynthia Kadohata