weasel 
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wea·sel (wē′zəl)
noun pl. weasels -·sels or weasel -·sel
- any of various agile musteline carnivores (esp. genus Mustela) with a long, slender body, short legs, and a long, bushy tail: they feed on rats, mice, birds, eggs, etc. and are worldwide
- a sly, cunning, or sneaky person
Etymology: ME wesel < OE wesle, akin to Ger wiesel, prob. < IE base *weis-, to flow out (with reference to the rank odor emitted by the animal) > virus, bison
intransitive verb
- to use weasel words
- Informal to avoid or evade a commitment or responsibility: with out
Related Forms:
- weaselly wea′·selly adjective
Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2005 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Converse of object
- go: Rude girls began to grin, his pants were giving in, Lend him a safety pin, or - pop goes the weasel!
Adjective modifier
- little: A plague of flies on your dressing rooms that's all I can say to him, sneaky underhand little weasel Wiltshire ways.
Modifies a noun
- word: Out come the weasel words: God is not out there, he is in all of us.
The word usage examples above have been gathered from various sources to reflect current and historical usage. They do not represent the opinions of YourDictionary.com.
The weasel under the cocktail cabinet.
Webster's New World Dictionary of Quotations Copyright © 2005 by Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. Published by Wiley, Hoboken, NJ. Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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MLA Style
"weasel." Webster's New World College Dictionary. 2009
- Your Dictionary. 5 July 2009
- <www.yourdictionary.com/weasel>
APA Style
weasel. (2009). In Webster's New World College Dictionary
- Retrieved July 5th, 2009, from www.yourdictionary.com/weasel
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