or plural weasel: any of various small slender active carnivorous mammals (genus Mustela of the family Mustelidae, the weasel family) that are able to prey on animals (such as rabbits) larger than themselves, are mostly brown with white or yellowish underparts, and in northern forms turn white in winter compare erminesense 1a
2
: a light self-propelled tracked vehicle built either for traveling over snow, ice, or sand or as an amphibious vehicle
Verb
the polite guest chose to weasel rather than admit that he didn't like the meal
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Noun
The little animals that will come to be emblematic of the 2026 Games are stoats, extremely cute critters that in real life are related to the weasel and the otter.—Mark Scaglione, NBC news, 3 Feb. 2026 Everything from hawks to eagles, weasels to wolves may eat them.—Steven Sullivan, The Conversation, 26 Jan. 2026
Verb
The pair cling to each other over the coming weeks despite R.C’s increasing mistrust of Peter and Jerry’s determination to weasel his way back into Agnes’ life.—Aramide Tinubu, Variety, 9 Jan. 2026 So if an extra (and questionable) ingredient weasels its way into the formula, and the supplement hits the market, there's not much the FDA can do besides send companies a warning letter to recall the supplement.—Julia Forbes, Wired News, 28 Dec. 2025 See All Example Sentences for weasel
Word History
Etymology
Noun
Middle English wesele, from Old English weosule; akin to Old High German wisula weasel
Verb
weasel word
First Known Use
Noun
before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1
or plural weasel: any of various small slender active mammals that are related to the minks, eat small animals (as mice and birds), and in northern regions turn white in winter compare erminesense 1