DCHP-3

skunk ((n.)) †

[< Algonk.]
DCHP-1 (pre-1967)

Entry from the DCHP-1 (pre-1967)

This entry may contain outdated or offensive information, terms, and examples.

1n.

See 1958 quote.

See: polecat
The name also applies to related animals, as the little spotted skunk, Spilogale gracilis, found in southern B.C.

Quotations

1620
[The Beastes are Ellans, Follow-deare, Hares, Beares harmeles, Wolues, Foxes, Beauers, Catnaghenes excellent, Otteras, and a small beast like a Ferret whose excrement is Muske.]
1743
a Sculk She cow wuck.
1792
Among the animals there was a skunk like a polecat, with black and white marks.
1871
The skunk . . . is often met with, the body eighteen inches long; in colour white with a black streak down the middle.
1958
Skunk (Mephitis mephitis), a member of the weasel family, the size of a large house cat. Black, with two white stripes on its back, the skunk is well known for its ability to throw a jet of scent up to a distance of 15 feet.
2n.

the fur of this animal.

Quotations

1880
Skunk, bear beaver and otter are in good demand for local use, and good lots will bring big prices.
1956
Too, there were foxes and bear hides, skunk, ermine, and wolf.
3n.

the flesh of this animal used as food.

Quotations

1921
In a fourth [pot] bubbled choice pieces of beaver, muskrat, lynx, and skunk.
4n. — Figurative uses.

Quotations

1848
"Well sur, it was agreed between thim that the writher was to go at it in the colliams o' the Packet; and play Skunk agin the office-howldhers wud the intinshun of pisenin thim out cumplately."
1883
There is an odor of skunk in the First ward that cannot be eliminated until there is a new civic Council and a change in the duplex.
1903
". . . Damned scoundrel' slidin' from yer flannel face is like a coyote roundin' on a timber wolf, an' a coyote ain't as low down as a skunk. . . ."
5an. — Slang

a mean, contemptible person; a "stinker."

Quotations

1825
In reply to Mac's first astounding epistle, out came this government skunk, opened his infernal water recess, and discharged on the Queenston hero such a torrent that even at thirty miles off, it offended the delicate senses of my beloved sister, Miss Griselda.
1954
". . . But you, Pierre Lavallée, you bloody pest, you dirty skunk! . . ."
5bn.

a smelly, slow, inferior locomotive.

Quotations

1953
Known at times in the past as the "shuttle" and the "skunk" because of the form of locomotion, it may be near the bottom rung of the railway ladder.