stoat
Americannoun
-
stoats
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
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:
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:
This makes it yet another introduced species like the rat or stoat, with unpredictable behavior.
From Slate ● Aug. 8, 2025
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
This meant the project has taken a more active approach to trapping, using Europe's first stoat detection dogs on the frontline earlier than expected.
From BBC ● Sep. 24, 2023
A problem that appears to consist of a single stoat.
From New York Times ● Jun. 5, 2022
He was impervious to the fascination of the mustelidae, and hoped someday to kill a weasel, if not a stoat.
From "Watership Down: A Novel" by Richard Adams
![]()
Meanwhile, beyond the gates and gawking tourists, stoats will gobble kiwi eggs and possums will devour our rata leaves.
From Slate ● Aug. 8, 2025
The Orkney Native Wildlife Project says it uses lethal traps to humanely kill the stoats.
From BBC ● Apr. 21, 2025
That means eradicating invasive species such as possums, rats and mustelids—a group that includes weasels, ferrets and stoats.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 5, 2024
Starting in the 1800s, millions were slaughtered by nonnative predators like stoats, a mammal related to the weasel.
From New York Times ● Dec. 4, 2023
I’m sure it’s bad country for stoats as well as foxes, and I hadn’t much idea what we were going to do if we met one.”
From "Watership Down: A Novel" by Richard Adams
![]()
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
Get a wordDefinitions 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.