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Showing results for stoat. Search instead for stoit.

stoat

American  
[stoht] / stoʊt /

noun

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


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

"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

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms


Etymology

Origin of stoat

1425–75; late Middle English stote < ?


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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

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