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# polecat

«polecat» in Mova's school dictionary: **a wild animal of the weasel family, with dark brown fur…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 2 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

noun (a polecat, polecats)

### meaning for a pupil

1) A polecat is a wild animal of the weasel family, with dark brown fur and a pale face mask, that gives off a strong smell when frightened. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/polecat/#m1)

2) (USA) In the USA, «polecat» is an old country word for a skunk. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/polecat/#m2)

3) (old, insult) Calling someone a polecat once meant they were nasty. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/polecat/#m3)

### sense in the lessons

In science lessons it is a carnivore of Europe; the pet ferret comes from it. In US stories, a «polecat» may be a skunk. Phrases: European polecat.

### examples

- The polecat hunted rabbits at night. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/polecat/#x1)
- Pet ferrets are related to polecats. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/polecat/#x2)
- Polecats live in Britain and Europe. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/polecat/#x3)
- The polecat has a dark mask on its face. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/polecat/#x4)
- (USA) Grandpa called the skunk a polecat. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/polecat/#x5)
- A frightened polecat gives off a nasty smell. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/polecat/#x6)
- She had a mane like a horse, horns like a deer, a face like a bear, eyes like a polecat; while her body had something of each. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/polecat/#x7)

### note

Countable: polecats. It is not a cat and has nothing to do with poles; the name may come from old French for chicken, because it ate hens.

### In the corpora

- [Little sousliks do the same, and eagles and polecats hunt them.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/373-ukraine-s-steppe-marmots-sousliks-great-bustards-and-askania-nova/3/)
- [Sousliks are a main food for steppe eagles, imperial eagles and steppe polecats, so when souslik colonies disappear these hunters disappear too.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/373-ukraine-s-steppe-marmots-sousliks-great-bustards-and-askania-nova/13/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «polecat» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/polecat/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.