short-tailed weasel

noun

: the common ermine (Mustela erminea) chiefly of northern Eurasia and North America that is brown above and white below in summer and in its northern range all white in winter and that ranges from 9 to 15 inches (23 to 38 centimeters) in length including a black-tipped tail that is usually 1 ½ to 3 ½ inches (3.8 to 9 centimeters) long : ermine sense 1a, stoat

Snowshoe hares and ermine (short-tailed weasels) both acquire snowy white coats hoping to fool predator or prey.

—Mary Taylor Gray

compare long-tailed weasel

Word History

First Known Use

1887, in the meaning defined above