POLECAT

polecat. Polecat, n. a quadruped of the wesel kind

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Pole″cat′ (?), n. [[Probably fr. F. poule hen, and originally, a poultry cat, because it feeds on poultry. See Poultry.]] (Zoöl.) (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.