opossum
a prehensile-tailed marsupial, Didelphis virginiana, of the eastern U.S., the female having an abdominal pouch in which its young are carried: noted for the habit of feigning death when in danger.
any of various animals of related genera.
Origin of opossum
1- Also called possum.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use opossum in a sentence
Opossums did not keep to the river; they loved the fruity old garden, and stuck to it in spite of dogs and guns.
Thirty Years in Australia | Ada CambridgeThe game became scarce, and both rackoons and opossums grew poor and worthless.
Fifty Years in Chains | Charles BallWhen white men first landed in their island there were about 7,000 of them roving through the forest and living upon opossums.
History of Australia and New Zealand | Alexander SutherlandIn general, opossums are unsocial but not intolerant in their behavior.
Ecology of the Opossum on a Natural Area in Northeastern Kansas | Henry S. FitchWhile he was away she could feed sumptuously on grubs, crabs, and opossums.
The Book of the Bush | George Dunderdale
British Dictionary definitions for opossum
/ (əˈpɒsəm) /
any thick-furred marsupial, esp Didelphis marsupialis (common opossum), of the family Didelphidae of S North, Central, and South America, having an elongated snout and a hairless prehensile tail: Sometimes (informal) shortened to: possum
Also called (Austral and NZ): possum any of various similar animals, esp the phalanger, Trichosurus vulpecula, of the New Zealand bush
Origin of opossum
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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