Dictionary

polecat en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈpoʊlˌkæt/ (General-American)
• (Southern-England) audio
• /ˈpəʊlkæt/ (UK)

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.

Meanings

1. Any of several long-bodied mammals of the subfamilies Mustelinae and Ictonychinae, both in the weasel family Mustelidae.
2. Any of several long-bodied mammals of the subfamilies Mustelinae and Ictonychinae, both in the weasel family Mustelidae. ▸ Notably, the European polecat, Mustela putorius.
   • For a long time the dormouse and polecat had seemed to him overfeeble enemies for his restless valour, even as the granary floor seemed to afford too narrow a field. Every day he read the papers of the previous day in the servants' hall of the houses he visited, and it appeared to him that this war in America, which was hailed as the awakening of the spirit of liberty and justice in the New World, ought to produce a revolution in France. 1837, George Sand, translated by Stanley Young, Mauprat, Cassandra Editions, published 1977, →ISBN, page 237:
   • 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. 1919, Ronald Firbank, Valmouth, Duckworth, hardback edition, page 61
3. (Appalachia, Texas) A skunk.
4. A base or despicable person; a wretch.
   • ‘Bear thyself like a Knight with a sword in hand, or else I shall call thee a base caitiff and polecat.’ 1936, Norman Lindsay, The Flyaway Highway, Sydney: Angus and Robertson, page 56:
5. A tubular device used to support lights on a set.
   • This is adjustable telescopic tubing, wedged securely between floor and ceiling (vertical pole) or wall-to-wall (horizontal pole), within corridors, arches, window openings, doorways, etc. It may be held in position by a strong internal spring or end-screws. Designs include polecat, varipole, barricuda, jack tube, Acrow. 1991, Gerald Millerson, The Technique of Lighting for Television and Film, page 323:
   • This uses a battery-operated HMI/MSR 200 W rigged on a magic arm fastened to a vertical 'pole-cat'. Check that the car roof is suitable for this application and remember to include a clean card (beer mat) between the top of the pole-cat and the car roof! 2013, Alan Bermingham, Location Lighting for Television, page 196:

Forms

Deriveds

striped polecat · forest polecat · European polecat · black polecat · steppe polecat · stink like a polecat · marbled polecat

Synonyms

foumart · fitch

Translations (19)

fr putois (weasel of the genus Mustela) · cy ffwlbart (weasel of the genus Mustela) · uk тхір (weasel of the genus Mustela) · pl tchórz (weasel of the genus Mustela) · cs tchoř (weasel of the genus Mustela) · ru хорёк (weasel of the genus Mustela) · ka ქრცვინი (weasel of the genus Mustela) · fi kärppä (weasel of the genus Mustela) · he סַמּוּר (weasel of the genus Mustela) · gd feocallan (weasel of the genus Mustela) · ro dihor (weasel of the genus Mustela) · ba көҙән (weasel of the genus Mustela) · de Iltis (weasel of the genus Mustela) · jsl ケナガイタチ (weasel of the genus Mustela) · ar فَأْر الْخَيْل (weasel of the genus Mustela) · ar اِبْن عُرْس مُنْتِن (weasel of the genus Mustela) · es turón (weasel of the genus Mustela) · nl bunzing (weasel of the genus Mustela) · ja ケナガイタチ (weasel of the genus Mustela)