ferret

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English

ferrets (Mustela putorius furo)

Pronunciation

  • enPR: fĕr'ət, IPA(key): /ˈfɛɹɪt/
  • Audio (US)(file)
  • Rhymes: -ɛɹɪt

Etymology 1

From Middle English furet, ferret, from Old French furet, from Vulgar Latin *furittum (“weasel, ferret”), diminutive of Latin fūr (“thief”).

Noun

ferret (plural ferrets)

  1. An often domesticated mammal (Mustela putorius furo) rather like a weasel, descended from the polecat and often trained to hunt burrowing animals.
  2. A black-footed ferret (Mustela nigripes).
  3. (figurative) A diligent searcher.
    • 1998 July 2, Charles Nicholl, “Screaming in the Castle”, in London Review of Books, volume XX, number 13:
      The most challenging documentary discoveries were made by a tenacious archival ferret, Dr Antonio Bertoletti. In 1879 he published his findings in a slim, refreshingly dry volume, Francesco Cenci e la sua Famiglia.
Derived terms
Related terms
Translations

Verb

ferret (third-person singular simple present ferrets, present participle ferreting, simple past and past participle ferreted)

  1. To hunt game with ferrets.
  2. (by extension, transitive, intransitive) To uncover and bring to light by searching; usually to ferret out.
    • 1599, William Shakespeare, “The Life of Henry the Fift”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies  (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, :
      Master Fer! I'll fer him, and firk him, and ferret him.
    • 1859, Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities:
      I confess that we were so unpopular with the outrageous mob, that I only got away from England at the risk of being ducked to death, and that Cly was so ferreted up and down, that he never would have got away at all but for that sham.
    • 1842, Edgar Alan Poe, The Mistery of Marie Roget:
      He had been piqued by the failure of all his endeavors to ferret out the assassins.
    • 1922, Virginia Woolf, chapter 1, in Jacob's Room:
      She ferreted in her bag; then held it up mouth downwards; then fumbled in her lap, all so vigorously that Charles Steele in the Panama hat suspended his paint-brush.
Derived terms
Translations

Etymology 2

Italian fioretto

Noun

ferret

  1. (dated) A tape of silk, cotton, or ribbon, used to tie documents, clothing, etc. or along the edge of fabric.

Further reading

Anagrams

French

Etymology

From fer +‎ -et.

Pronunciation

Noun

ferret m (plural ferrets)

  1. (metal) tag; aglet, aiguillette

Further reading

Latin

Verb

ferret

  1. third-person singular imperfect active subjunctive of ferō
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