polecat : Dictionary / Wörterbuch (BEOLINGUS, TU Chemnitz)

English Dictionary: polecat	by the DICT Development Group
2 results for polecat
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
polecat n American musteline mammal typically ejecting an intensely malodorous fluid when startled; in some classifications put in a separate subfamily Mephitinae Synonym(s): skunk, polecat, wood pussy dark brown mustelid of woodlands of Eurasia that gives off an unpleasant odor when threatened Synonym(s): polecat, fitch, foulmart, foumart, Mustela putorius
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Polecat \Pole"cat`\, n. [Probably fr. F. poule hen, and originally, a poultry cat, because it feeds on poultry. See {Poultry}.] (Zo[94]l.) (a) A small European carnivore of the Weasel family ({Putorius f[d2]tidus}). 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.