mink
/mɪŋk/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.15 in modern English
10
Scrabble Score
4
Letters
1
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
Any semi-aquatic, carnivorous mammal in the Mustelinae subfamily, similar to weasels, with dark fur, native to Europe and America, of which two species in different genera are extant: the American mink (Neogale vison) and the European mink (Mustela lutreola).
noun
An article of clothing made of mink.
Example Sentences
- "The Minx […] frequents the water like the Otter, and very much reſembles it in ſhape and color, but is leſs; will abide longer under the water than the muſk quaſh, muſk rat, or little beaver: […]"
- "[Friday 7.] I ſhot three brace of grouſe, and found a mink in one of the traps which I tailed yesterday. [Saturday 8.] The ſame trap caught another mink to-day."
- "Many of these birds are destroyed by Weasels and Minxes."
- "He also said that minks, muskrats, foxes, coons, and wild mice were found there, but no squirrels."
- "The Mink, so highly valued for its fur, being an amphibious animal, is equally at home upon the land or in the water. […] The relentlessness with which trapping has been pursued has threatened, in some localities, the extermination of the Mink, and the legislature of at least one State has properly made it punishable by fine to kill a mink between the months of March and November following."
- "Scientists are wondering if otters might help control the mink. Otters live in the same habitats that American mink do. They like to be near water, just as mink do. They also eat the same foods that mink eat."
Etymology
From Late Middle English mynk (“fur of the European mink”), apparently from Swedish mink, mänk, menk (“stinking animal in Finland, mink”). Compare Danish mink (“mink”), Icelandic minkur (“mink”).
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: mynk, mink
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /mɪŋk/
- British English: /mɪŋk/
Usage
Inflected Forms
Derived Forms
Phrases
American mink
Eurasian mink
European mink
fuck like a mink
mink coat
mink frog
mink oil
mink plasmacytosis