Hypertext Webster Gateway: "polecat"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Polecat \Pole"cat`\, n. [Probably fr. F. poule hen, and
originally, a poultry cat, because it feeds on poultry. See
{Poultry}.] (Zo["o]l.)
(a) A small European carnivore of the Weasel family
({Putorius f[oe]tidus}). Its scent glands secrete a
substance of an exceedingly disagreeable odor. Called
also {fitchet}, {foulmart}, and {European ferret}.
(b) The zorilla. The name is also applied to other allied
species.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
polecat
n 1: American musteline mammal typically ejecting an intensely
malodorous fluid when startled; in some classifications
put in a separate subfamily Mephitinae [syn: {skunk}, {wood
pussy}]
2: dark brown mustelid of woodlands of Eurasia that gives off
an unpleasant odor when threatened [syn: {fitch}, {foulmart},
{foumart}, {Mustela putorius}]
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