skunk
[skuhngk]
- a small North American mammal, Mephitis mephitis, of the weasel family, having a black coat with a white, V-shaped stripe on the back, and ejecting a fetid odor when alarmed or attacked.
- any of several related or similar animals.Compare hog-nosed skunk, spotted skunk.
- Informal. a thoroughly contemptible person.
- U.S. Navy Slang. an unidentified ship or target.
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- Slang. to defeat thoroughly in a game, especially while keeping an opponent from scoring: The team skunked the favorites in the crucial game.
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Origin of skunk
1625–35, Americanism; < the Massachusett reflex of Proto-Algonquian *šeka·kwa (derivative of *šek- urinate + -a·kw fox, foxlike animal
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for skunk
Contemporary Examples
The army met the stone-throwing with a fecal-smelling concoction called "skunk" and later with tear gas.
Historical Examples
Was the occupant a rat or a skunk, and if so, what was he going to do?
A Woman TenderfootGrace Gallatin Seton-Thompson
Of course the puppy barked; of course the skunk did not like it.
A Woman TenderfootGrace Gallatin Seton-Thompson
Why, there are a whole lot of skunk farms all over the Northern States.
With Trapper Jim in the North WoodsLawrence J. Leslie
Because I've got a whole lot of respect for the skunk family.
With Trapper Jim in the North WoodsLawrence J. Leslie
The Pole-cat or Skunk is about the size of a kitten eight months old.
The History of LouisianaLe Page Du Pratz
skunk
- any of various American musteline mammals of the subfamily Mephitinae, esp Mephitis mephitis (striped skunk), typically having a black and white coat and bushy tail: they eject an unpleasant-smelling fluid from the anal gland when attacked
- informal a despicable person
- slang a strain of cannabis smoked for its exceptionally powerful psychoactive properties
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- (tr) US and Canadian slang to defeat overwhelmingly in a game
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Word Origin
C17: from Algonquian; compare Abnaki segākw skunk
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
Word Origin and History for skunk
n.
1630s, squunck, from a southern New England Algonquian language (probably Abenaki) seganku, from Proto-Algonquian */šeka:kwa/, from */šek-/ "to urinate" + */-a:kw/ "fox." As an insult, attested from 1841. Skunk cabbage is attested from 1751; earlier skunkweed (1738).
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v.
"to completely defeat (in a game), to shut out from scoring," 1831, from skunk (n.). Related: Skunked; skunking.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper