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Webster 1913 Edition
Polecat
Pole′catˊ
,Noun.
[Probably fr. F.
poule
hen, and originally, a poultry cat, because it feeds on poultry. See Poultry
.] (Zool.)
(a)
A small European carnivore of the Weasel family (
Putorius fœtidus
). 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.
Webster 1828 Edition
Polecat
PO'LECAT
,Noun.