skunk

verb

skunked; skunking; skunks

transitive verb

1

a

: defeat

b

: to prevent entirely from scoring or succeeding : shut out

2

: to fail to pay

also : cheat

Synonyms of skunk

• bomb
• smoke
• overcome
• whip
• cream
• skin
• bury
• upset
• dust
• master
• blow away
• throw
• wax
• trim
• rout
• beat
• smother
• snow under
• thrash
• annihilate
• paste

Examples of skunk in a Sentence

we ended up skunking them, as our goalie was able to prevent the other team from scoring a single goal

our football team consistently skunks our traditional rivals Thanksgiving after Thanksgiving

Recent Examples on the Web

That means two out of three Minnesota turkey hunters are going skunked this spring. —Alex Robinson, Outdoor Life, 16 Apr. 2026

That skunking, hot-cheeked anticipation of your body turning on you. —Essence, 22 July 2025

Long-term, however, the S&P 500 has skunked the world index, and shows very sign of continuing to do so. —Larry Light, Forbes.com, 9 July 2025

The party got skunked in every battleground state and lost the popular vote for the first time in 20 years. —Charlotte Alter, Time, 19 May 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1843, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Phrases Containing skunk

• (as) drunk as a skunk
• skunk cabbage
• striped skunk

Rhymes for skunk

• bunk
• chunk
• clunk
• drunk
• dunk
• hunk
• junk
• punk
• shrunk
• slunk
• spunk
• sunk

Kids Definition

skunk

1 of 2 noun

ˈskəŋk 

plural skunks also skunk

1

: any of various black-and-white North American mammals related to the weasels that give off a fluid with a sharp and unpleasant smell when threatened

2

: a mean hateful person

skunk

2 of 2 verb

: to defeat completely

especially : to prevent entirely from scoring or succeeding : shut out

Etymology

from a word in Massachusett (an extinct Algonquian language spoken in Massachusetts)