ferret
/ˈfɛɹɪt/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 3.01 in modern English
9
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
2
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
An often domesticated mammal (Mustela putorius furo) rather like a weasel, descended from the European polecat and often trained to hunt burrowing animals.
noun
verb
To uncover and bring to light by searching; usually to ferret out.
Example Sentences
- "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."
- "Master Fer! I'll fer him, and firk him, and ferret him."
- "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."
- "He had been piqued by the failure of all his endeavors to ferret out the assassins."
- "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."
- "red tape and green ferret"
Etymology
From Middle English furet, ferret, from Old French furet, from Vulgar Latin *furittum (“weasel, ferret”), diminutive of Latin fūr (“thief”).
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: *bʰer-, furet, *furittum, fūr