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skunk

 - 5 dictionary results
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skunk

  [skuhngk] noun, plural skunks, (especially collectively) skunk, verb
–noun
1. a small North American mammal, Mephitis mephitis, of the weasel family, having a black coat with a white, V-shaped stripe on the back, and ejecting a fetid odor when alarmed or attacked.
2. any of several related or similar animals. Compare hog-nosed skunk, spotted skunk.
3. Informal. a thoroughly contemptible person.
4. U.S. Navy Slang. an unidentified ship or target.
–verb (used with object)
5. Slang. to defeat thoroughly in a game, esp. while keeping an opponent from scoring: The team skunked the favorites in the crucial game.
Use skunk in a Sentence
Origin:
1625–35, Americanism; < the Massachusett reflex of Proto-Algonquian *šeka⋅kwa (deriv. of *šek- urinate + -a⋅kw fox, foxlike animal
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Skunk River

 
–noun
a river in central Iowa, flowing SE to the Mississippi River. 264 mi. (425 km) long.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2010.
Cite This Source Link To skunk
skunk   (skŭngk)   
n.  

    1. Any of several small, mostly carnivorous New World mammals of the genus Mephitis and related genera, having a bushy tail and black fur with white markings and ejecting a foul-smelling oily liquid from glands near the anus when frightened or in danger. Also called polecat.

    2. The glossy black and white fur of this mammal.

    3. A person regarded as obnoxious or despicable.

    4. A person whose company is avoided.

  2. Slang

    1. A person regarded as obnoxious or despicable.

    2. A person whose company is avoided.

tr.v.   skunked, skunk·ing, skunks Slang

  1. To defeat overwhelmingly, especially by keeping from scoring.

    1. To cheat (someone).

    2. To fail to pay (an amount due).


[Of Massachusett origin.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Slang Dictionary
skunk

  1. n.
    a mean and hateful person. (See also polecat; stinker.) : Must you be such a skunk in front of my friends?
  2. tv.
    to outwit someone. : That fish skunked me. I thought I caught him for sure this time.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Word Origin & History

skunk 
1634, squunck, from Algonquian (probably Abnaki) seganku, said to be translatable as "he who squirts." As an insult, attested from 1841. Skunk cabbage is attested from 1751.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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