weasel

• POS: Noun
• HYPHEN: wea=sel

CIDE DICTIONARY

weasel, n. [OE. wesele, AS. wesle; akin to D. wezel, G. wiesel, OHG. wisala, Icel. hreyivīsla, Dan. väsel, Sw. vessla; of uncertain origin; cf. Gr. , , cat, weasel.].

 Any one of various species of small carnivores belonging to the genus Putorius, as the ermine and ferret. They have a slender, elongated body, and are noted for the quickness of their movements and for their bloodthirsty habit in destroying poultry, rats, etc. The ermine and some other species are brown in summer, and turn white in winter; others are brown at all seasons.  [1913 Webster]

Malacca weasel, the rasse. -- Weasel coot, a female or young male of the smew; -- so called from the resemblance of the head to that of a weasel. Called also weasel duck. -- Weasel lemur, a short-tailed lemur (Lepilemur mustelinus). It is reddish brown above, grayish brown below, with the throat white.

OXFORD DICTIONARY

weasel, n. & v.
--n.
1 a small reddish-brown flesh-eating mammal, Mustela nivalis, with a slender body, related to the stoat and ferret.
2 a stoat.
3 colloq. a deceitful or treacherous person.
--v.intr. (weaselled, weaselling; US weaseled, weaseling)
1 esp. US equivocate or quibble.
2 (foll. by on, out) default on an obligation.

Idiom

weasel-faced having thin sharp features. weasel word (usu. in pl.) a word that is intentionally ambiguous or misleading.

Derivative

weaselly adj.

Etymology

OE wesle, wesule f. WG

THESAURUS

weasel

Argus, Cape polecat, Skimobile, Sno-Cat, ape, avoid, back and fill, bar, bear, blade, blench, blink, cat, cavy, chimp, chimpanzee, coon, cringe, dodge, draw back, duck, eagle, equivocate, evade, fade, fall back, ferret, flinch, foumart, glutton, groundhog, guinea pig, hang back, hawk, hedge, hedgehog, hem and haw, hum and haw, jib, lynx, mince the truth, mince words, monk, monkey, mousehound, opossum, palter, parry, polecat, porcupine, possum, prairie dog, prevaricate, pull back, pussyfoot, quail, quill pig, raccoon, recoil, reel back, retreat, runner, sheer off, shrink, shrink back, shuffle, shy, sidestep, skunk, sled, sleigh, slink, sneaker, snowmobile, start aside, start back, swerve, tergiversate, turn aside, waffle, weasel out, whistle-pig, wince, wolverine, woodchuck, zoril