Dictionary
Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.
skunked en · ADJ
Pronunciation
Meanings
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(slang) Intoxicated by alcohol or recreational drugs.
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(slang) Having caught no fish at all when on a fishing trip.
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(slang) Having seen no birds at all when on a birding trip.
It no longer mattered that I had been skunked in the marsh. I had prevailed on the ponds.
2003, Kenn Kaufman, City Birding: True Tales of Birds and Birdwatching in Unexpected Places, page 47:
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(of beer) Ruined by poor storage or exposure to light.
We found some skunked beer in the abandoned cabin, but it was not worth drinking.
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(of a word or phrase) Transitioning to a new meaning or usage and potentially controversial.
A word is most hotly disputed in the middle part of this process: any use of it is likely to distract some readers. The new use seems illiterate to Group 1; the old use seems odd to Group 2. The word has become “skunked.”
2000, Bryan A. Garner, “skunked terms”, in The Oxford Dictionary of American Usage and Style, page 306:
Forms
Deriveds
unskunked · skunked term
skunked en · VERB
Pronunciation
Meanings
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(form-of, participle, past) simple past and past participle of skunk