weasel

noun wea·sel \ ˈwē-zəl \

Definition of weasel

plural weasels

1 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 ermine 1a

2 :a light self-propelled tracked vehicle built either for traveling over snow, ice, or sand or as an amphibious vehicle

3 :a sneaky, untrustworthy, or insincere person

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Recent Examples of weasel from the Web

In these forests, everything from trees to weasels depends on the bears’ annual slaughter of salmon.

— ed yong, The Atlantic, "How Climate Change Canceled the Grizzly Salmon Run," 21 Aug. 2017
Crawling up the dry arroyo, bellies in the dirt like common weasels.

— Longreads, "And How Much of These Hills Is Gold," 3 Aug. 2017
Red pandas — which are more closely related to raccoons, weasels and skunks than to pandas — have a life expectancy of about 10 years in zoos and eight years in the wild, zoo officials said.

— christine clarridge, The Seattle Times, "Woodland Park Zoo mourns death of sweet-faced red panda, Stellar," 18 July 2017
That said, predators of white-footed mice, such as owls, hawks, bobcats, foxes and weasels, won't get Lyme disease by eating an infected rodent because the bacteria cannot survive digestive tracts of birds or mammals.

— lindsey bever, Washington Post, "Why this adorable mouse is to blame for the spread of Lyme disease," 17 July 2017
Hey weasel, tell those f-----g Showtime b-----s to turn the air conditioning up, the champ champ's rocking polar bear tonight.

— khadrice rollins, SI.com, "Mayweather, McGregor make fans wait for Brooklyn press conference," 14 July 2017
Musk spells a weasel in the bushes or marmot close by.

— michael engelhard, Alaska Dispatch News, "An ode to Alaska odors," 1 July 2017
Now, however, Attorney General Pam Bondi’s office is after Woodall like a hungry weasel on a lame rabbit.

— lauren ritchie, OrlandoSentinel.com, "Released 15 months ago, Umatilla man who served 11 years in prison may have to serve 9 more years," 23 June 2017
Immediately, the promise of a weasel-outta-trouble Cruise falls apart.

— sam machkovech, Ars Technica, "Don’t change your plans to not see The Mummy," 9 June 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'weasel.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.