polecat

== English == === Etymology === From Middle English polcat, pulkat, of uncertain origin. Perhaps from Middle English *pole, *poule (“hen”), from Old French poule (“hen”) + Middle English cat. Compare English foulmart. === Pronunciation === (UK) IPA(key): /ˈpəʊlkæt/ (General American) IPA(key): /ˈpoʊlˌkæt/ Rhymes: -əʊlkæt === Noun === polecat (plural polecats) Any of several long-bodied mammals of the subfamilies Mustelinae and Ictonychinae, both in the weasel family Mustelidae. Notably, the European polecat, Mustela putorius. 1919, Ronald Firbank, Valmouth, Duckworth, hardback edition, page 61 By the little garden pergola open to the winds some fluttered peacocks were blotted nervelessly amid the dripping trees, their heads sunk back beneath their wings: while in the pergola itself, like a fallen storm-cloud, lolled a negress, her levelled, polecat eyes semi-veiled by the nebulous alchemy of the rainbow. Synonyms: fitch, foumart (Texas, Appalachia) A skunk. (television) A tubular device used to support lights on a set. ==== Derived terms ==== ==== Translations ==== === Further reading === polecat on Wikipedia.Wikipedia === Anagrams === colpate, pot lace