Mink definition

mĭngk
minks
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Frequency:
The soft thick lustrous fur of this animal.
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Either of two semiaquatic mustelid carnivores, Mustela lutreola of Europe or Neovison vison of North America, having a pointed snout, short legs, and partly webbed toes, and bred for their commercially valuable fur.
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A coat, stole, or hat made of the fur of this animal.
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Any of several slim, erminelike musteline carnivores with partly webbed feet, esp. a common dark-brown North American species (Mustela vison) living in water part of the time.
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Its valuable fur, soft, thick, and white to brown in color.
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(plural mink) Any of various semi-aquatic, carnivorous mammals in the Mustelinae subfamily, similar to weasels, with dark fur, native to Europe and America, of which two species in different genera are extant.
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(plural minks) An article of clothing made of mink.
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Other Word Forms

Noun

Singular:
mink
Plural:
minks

Origin of mink

  • Middle English mink fur possibly of Scandinavian origin

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

  • Of North Germanic origin.

    From Wiktionary

Mink Sentence Examples

  • The darker sorts of mink, musquash, raccoon and wolverine are more valuable than the paler skins.

  • The two best-known species, so much alike in size, form, colour and habits that, although they are widely separated geographically, some zoologists question their specific distinction, are P. lutreola, the Norz or Sumpfotter (marsh-otter) of eastern Europe, and P. visors, the mink of North America.

  • The caribou, moose, antelope, mountain sheep, beaver, otter and mink are scarce.

  • The Viennese have been particularly successful, and their method has been to dye the skins a good brown and then not put in the dark stripes, which exist in sable and mink, until the garment or article is finished, thus obtaining as perfectly symmetrical effects as if the articles were made of small skins instead of large ones.

  • As illustrative of this, it may be explained that any brown tone of fur such as sable, marten, mink, black marten, beaver, nutria, &c., will go well upon black or very dark-brown furs, while those of a white or grey nature, such as ermine, white lamb, chinchilla, blue fox, silver fox, opossum, grey squirrel, grey lamb, will set well upon seal or black furs, as Persian lamb, broadtail, astrachan, caracul lamb, &c. White is also permissible upon some light browns and greys, but brown motley colours and greys should never be in contrast.

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