long-tailed weasel

noun

: a common weasel (Mustela frenata) found from southern Canada to northern South America often near water that is an aggressive carnivore feeding chiefly on rodents and other small mammals, is brown above and white to yellowish below in summer and in its northern range usually white in winter, and ranges in length from 15 to 23 inches (38 to 58.4 centimeters) long including a black-tipped tail that is usually 3 ½ to 6 ½ (9 to 16.5 centimeters) inches long

Note: The long-tailed weasel is also known as the bridled weasel due to white and yellowish facial markings often present chiefly in southern populations.

compare short-tailed weasel

Word History

First Known Use

1862, in the meaning defined above