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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

weasel.

Any of the carnivorous mammals of the genera Mustela, Neogale, Poecilogale, and Lyncodon, having a slender body, a long tail and usually a light brown upper coat and light-coloured belly.

6 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ˈwiːz(ə)l/Received-Pronunciation/ˈwizəl/General-American/ˈwizl̩/General-American
  1. Any of the carnivorous mammals of the genera Mustela, Neogale, Poecilogale, and Lyncodon, having a slender body, a long tail and usually a light brown upper coat and light-coloured belly.

  2. A least weasel (Mustela nivalis).

  3. Any of certain other species of the family Mustelidae.

  4. A devious or sneaky person or animal.

    derogatory · informal
  5. A type of yarn winder used for counting the yardage of handspun yarn; spinner's weasel. 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.

Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Proto-Germanic *wisulǭ Proto-West Germanic *wisulā Old English weosule Middle English wēsele English weasel From Middle English wesele, from Old English weosule, from Proto-West Germanic *wisulā, from Proto-Germanic *wisulǭ. The verb is from c. 1900, from the supposed cunningness of the weasel.

verb/ˈwiːz(ə)l/Received-Pronunciation/ˈwizəl/General-American/ˈwizl̩/General-American
  1. To achieve by clever or devious means.

    transitive
  2. To gain something for oneself by clever or devious means.

    reflexive · transitive
  3. To engage in clever or devious behavior.

    intransitive
Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Proto-Germanic *wisulǭ Proto-West Germanic *wisulā Old English weosule Middle English wēsele English weasel From Middle English wesele, from Old English weosule, from Proto-West Germanic *wisulā, from Proto-Germanic *wisulǭ. The verb is from c. 1900, from the supposed cunningness of the weasel.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.