Hypertext Webster Gateway: "skunk"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Skunk \Skunk\, v. t.
In games of chance and skill: To defeat (an opponent) (as in
cards) so that he fails to gain a point, or (in checkers) to
get a king. [Colloq. U. S.]
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Skunk \Skunk\, n. [Contr. from the Abenaki (American Indian)
seganku.] (Zo["o]l.)
Any one of several species of American musteline carnivores
of the genus {Mephitis} and allied genera. They have two
glands near the anus, secreting an extremely fetid liquid,
which the animal ejects at pleasure as a means of defense.
Note: The common species of the Eastern United States
({Mephitis mephitica}) is black with more or less white
on the body and tail. The spotted skunk ({Spilogale
putorius}), native of the Southwestern United States
and Mexico, is smaller than the common skunk, and is
variously marked with black and white.
{Skunk bird}, {Skunk blackbird} (Zo["o]l.), the bobolink; --
so called because the male, in the breeding season, is
black and white, like a skunk.
{Skunk cabbage} (Bot.), an American aroid herb ({Symplocarpus
f[oe]tidus}>) having a reddish hornlike spathe in earliest
spring, followed by a cluster of large cabbagelike leaves.
It exhales a disagreeable odor. Also called {swamp
cabbage}.
{Skunk porpoise}. (Zo["o]l.) See under {Porpoise}.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
skunk
n 1: a person who is deemed to be despicable or contemptible;
"only a rotter would do that"; "kill the rat"; "throw
the bum out"; "you cowardly little pukes!" [syn: {rotter},
{rat}, {stinker}, {stinkpot}, {bum}, {puke}, {crumb}, {lowlife},
{scum bag}, {so-and-so}]
2: a strong-smelling plant from whose dried leaves a number of
euphoriant and hallucinogenic drugs are prepared [syn: {marijuana},
{marihuana}, {ganja}, {pot}, {grass}, {dope}, {weed}, {gage},
{sess}, {sens}, {Mary-Jane}, {Cannabis sativa}]
3: a soft drug consisting of the dried leaves of the hemp
plant; smoked or chewed for euphoric effect [syn: {cannabis},
{marijuana}, {ganja}, {pot}, {grass}, {marihuana}, {dope},
{weed}, {gage}, {sess}, {sens}, {smoke}, {Mary Jane}]
4: American musteline mammal typically ejecting an intensely
malodorous fluid when startled; in some classifications
put in a separate subfamily Mephitinae [syn: {polecat}, {wood
pussy}]
v : defeat by a lurch, as in certain card games [syn: {lurch}]
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