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Webster 1913 Edition

Weasel

Wea′sel

,
Noun.
[OE.
wesele
, AS.
wesle
; akin to D.
wezel
, G.
wiesel
, OHG.
wisala
, Icel. hreyi
vīsla
, Dan.
väsel
, Sw.
vessla
; of uncertain origin; cf. Gr. [GREEK], [GREEK], cat, weasel.]
(Zool.)
Any one of various species of small carnivores belonging to the genus
Putorius
, as the ermine and ferret. They have a slender, elongated body, and are noted for the quickness of their movements and for their bloodthirsty habit in destroying poultry, rats, etc. The ermine and some other species are brown in summer, and turn white in winter; others are brown at all seasons.
Malacca weasel
,
the rasse.
–
Weasel coot
,
a female or young male of the smew; – so called from the resemblance of the head to that of a weasel. Called also
weasel duck
.
–
Weasel lemur
,
a short-tailed lemur (
Lepilemur mustelinus
). It is reddish brown above, grayish brown below, with the throat white.

Webster 1828 Edition

Weasel

WEASEL

, WEESEL,
Noun.
s as z. A small animal of the genus Mustela, which lives under the roots of trees, or in other holes, and feeds on small birds, but particularly on mice. A weasel that frequents barns and corn-houses, frees them from rats and mice, and is sometimes deemed a very useful inmate.

Definition 2024

weasel

weasel

English

A weasel Mustela frenata (2)

Alternative forms

Noun

weasel ‎(plural weasels)

  1. The least weasel, Mustela nivalis.
  2. Any of the carnivorous mammals of the genus Mustela, having a slender body, a long tail and usually a light brown upper coat and light-coloured belly.
  3. The taxonomic family Mustelidae is also called the weasel family.
  4. A devious or sneaky person or animal.
    • 2016 February 8, Marwan Bishara, “Why Obama fails the leadership test in the Middle East”, in Al Jazeera English:
      Once you've gone beyond the scripted speeches, soundbites and cliches, you'll notice how the debate about leadership is primarily divided between the three governors and two senators, the other two weasels, Donald Trump and Ben Carson notwithstanding.
  5. A type of yarn winder used for counting the yardage of handspun yarn. It most commonly has a wooden peg or dowel that pops up from the gearing mechanism after a certain number of yards have been wound onto the winder.

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Verb

weasel ‎(third-person singular simple present weasels, present participle weaseling or weaselling, simple past and past participle weaseled or weaselled)

  1. (transitive) To achieve by clever or devious means.
    • 2010 (publication date), Tony Dajer, "Vital Signs", Discover, ISSN 0274-7529, volume 32, number 1, January–February 2011, page 10:
      Prisoners are notorious for weaseling day passes to get out of lockup […] .
  2. (transitive or reflexive) To gain something for oneself by clever or devious means.
    • 2006, Tony Ruggiero, Alien Deception:
      He's weaseled himself into a position where he can influence the outcome of this election.
    • 2010, Susie Davis, Uncovered: Revealing the Secrets of a Sexy Marriage, page 147:
      Within just a couple of days, she [a dog] had weaseled her way into our hearts.
  3. (intransitive) To engage in clever or devious behavior.
    • 1996, Stefan Bechtel, Larry Stains, Sex: A Man's Guide, page 151:
      Authority figures have a history of weaseling on this topic.

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Etymology

From Middle English wesele, from Old English weosule, from Proto-Germanic *wisulǭ (compare West Frisian wezeling, Low German Wessel, Wissel, Dutch wezel, German Wiesel, Swedish vessla), from Proto-Indo-European *wiselos (compare Irish fíal 'ferret'), from *wis- 'musk, stink' (compare Latin virus 'slimy liquid, mud; stench', Sanskrit विस्र ‎(visra) 'musty, smelling of raw meat)'.

The verb comes from the supposed cunningness of the weasel.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈwiːzəl/
  • Rhymes: -iːzəl

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