polecat Meaning, Definition & Usage

noun American musteline mammal typically ejecting an intensely malodorous fluid when startled; in some classifications put in a separate subfamily Mephitinae
wood pussy; skunk.
noun dark brown mustelid of woodlands of Eurasia that gives off an unpleasant odor when threatened
fitch; foulmart; Mustela putorius; foumart.

Probably fr. F. poule hen, and originally, a poultry cat, because it feeds on poultry. See Poultry.

(Zoöl.) (a) A small European carnivore of the Weasel family (Putorius foetidus). Its scent glands secrete a substance of an exceedingly disagreeable odor. Called also fitchet, foulmart, and European ferret. (b) The zorilla. The name is also applied to other allied species.