stoat

American  

[stoht] / stoʊt /

noun

1. the ermine, Mustela erminea, especially when in brown summer pelage.

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stoat British  

/ stəʊt /

noun

1. a small Eurasian musteline mammal, Mustela erminea, closely related to the weasels, having a brown coat and a black-tipped tail: in the northern parts of its range it has a white winter coat and is then known as an ermine

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Etymology

Origin of stoat

1425–75; late Middle English stote < ?

Compare meaning

How does stoat compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• stoat vs. mink

Example Sentences

This makes it yet another introduced species like the rat or stoat, with unpredictable behavior.

From Slate • Aug. 8, 2025

Jose saw this stoat jump mid-air as an "expression of exuberance" as the small mammal hurled itself around in a fresh snowfall.

From BBC • Aug. 28, 2024

On one predator-free island—home to threatened species such as a flightless parrot called the kakapo—the government spent some $295,000 over eight months tracking down a single stoat.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jul. 5, 2024

A problem that appears to consist of a single stoat.

From New York Times • Jun. 5, 2022

Once Dandelion struck the smell of a stoat and they all joined him, whispering and sniffing over the ground.

From "Watership Down: A Novel" by Richard Adams