Crossword clues for ferret
ferret
- Otter relative
- Mink's relative
- Search about
- Weasellike animal
- Rabbit chaser
- Stoat relative
- Polecat relative
- Polecat cousin
- Rabbit hunter
- Polecat relative commonly kept as a pet
- Polecat cousin kept as a pet
- Drive (out)
- Discover, with "out"
- Uncommon pet
- Somewhat uncommon pet
- Slinky pet
- Slender pet
- Relative of a skunk
- Rabbit hunter’s accomplice
- Polecat relative that drives animals from their burrows
- Polecat of Europe
- Polecat kin
- Pink-eyed polecat
- Pet that's illegal in California and Hawaii
- Pet that's illegal in California
- Furry creature similar to a weasel
- Fungo of "Get Fuzzy," e.g
- European polecat
- Domesticated variety of polecat
- Bring to light, with "out"
- Animal often with a "mask" around its eyes
- Animal named from the Latin for "little thief"
- Animal bred for hunting rats and rabbits
- Search (out)
- Black-footed critter
- Animal that drives rabbits from their burrows
- Detective sort
- Uncover, with "out"
- Black-footed animal
- Find (out)
- Seek (out)
- Pride : lion :: business : ___
- Domesticated albino variety of the European polecat bred for hunting rats and rabbits
- Polecat's kin
- Type of polecat
- European polecat bred for hunting rabbits
- Weasel's kin
- Rodent hunter
- Domesticated European polecat
- Black-footed weasel
- Hunt for
- Search around
- Polecat's cousin
- Alter reference, holding up investigator
- Supporters surrounding Rolls Royce in search
- Search through very thoroughly
- Search bishop held by his supporters?
- Animal rights dividing supporters
- Polecat bred for hunting rats and rabbits
- Domesticated polecat
- Weasel relative
- Weasel's cousin
- Weasel-like animal
- Weasel kin
- Search out
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Ferret \Fer"ret\, n. [F. furet, cf. LL. furo; prob. fr. L. fur thief (cf. Furtive); cf. Arm. fur wise, sly.] (Zo["o]l.) An animal of the Weasel family ( Mustela furo syn. Putorius furo), about fourteen inches in length, of a pale yellow or white color, with red eyes. It is a native of Africa, but has been domesticated in Europe. Ferrets are used to drive rabbits and rats out of their holes. They are sometimes kept as pets.
Ferret \Fer"ret\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Ferreted; p. pr. & vb. n. Ferreting.] [Cf. F. fureter. See Ferret, n.] To drive or hunt out of a lurking place, as a ferret does the cony; to search out by patient and sagacious efforts; -- often used with out; as, to ferret out a secret.
Master Fer! I'll fer him, and firk him, and ferret him.
--Shak.
Ferret \Fer"ret\, n. [Ital. foretto, dim. of fiore flower; or F. fleuret. Cf. Floret.] A kind of narrow tape, usually made of woolen; sometimes of cotton or silk; -- called also ferreting.
Ferret \Fer"ret\, n. [F. feret, dim. or fer iron, L. ferrum.] (Glass Making) The iron used for trying the melted glass to see if is fit to work, and for shaping the rings at the mouths of bottles.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
early 15c., "hunt with a ferret," from ferret (n.) or from Old French verb fureter, in reference to the use of half-tame ferrets to kill rats and flush rabbits from burrows. The extended sense of "search out, discover," especially by perseverence and cunning, usually with out (adv.), is from 1570s. Related: Ferreted; ferreting.
late 14c., from Old French furet "ferret," diminutive of fuiron "weasel, ferret," literally "thief" (in allusion to the animal's slyness and craftiness), probably from Late Latin furionem (related to furonem "cat," which also meant "robber"), from Latin fur (genitive furis) "thief," probably from PIE *bhor- (which likely also is the source of furtive), from root *bher- (1) "to carry" (see infer). Also from the French word are Dutch fret, German Frett. Ferret-faced is from 1837 (to have ferret-eyes is from 1580s).
Wiktionary
Etymology 1 n. 1 An often domesticated mammal rather like a weasel, descended from the polecat and often trained to hunt burrowing animals. 2 The (vern: black-footed ferret), (taxlink Mustela nigripes species noshow=1). 3 A diligent searcher. vb. 1 To hunt game with ferrets. 2 To uncover and bring to light by searching; usually to ''ferret out''. Etymology 2
n. (context dated English) A tape of silk, cotton, or ribbon, used to tie documents, clothing, etc. or along the edge of fabric.
WordNet
n. ferret of prairie regions of United States; nearly extinct [syn: black-footed ferret, Mustela nigripes]
domesticated albino variety of the European polecat bred for hunting rats and rabbits
v. hound or harry relentlessly
hunt with ferrets
search and discover through persistent investigation; "She ferreted out the truth" [syn: ferret out]
Wikipedia
The ferret (Mustela putorius furo) is the domesticated form of the European polecat, a mammal belonging to the same genus as the weasel, Mustela of the family Mustelidae. They typically have brown, black, white, or mixed fur. They have an average length of including a tail, weigh about , and have a natural lifespan of 7 to 10 years. Ferrets are sexually dimorphic predators with males being substantially larger than females.
Several other Mustelids also have the word ferret in their common names, including an endangered species, the black-footed ferret.
The history of the ferret's domestication is uncertain, like that of most other domestic animals, but it is likely that ferrets have been domesticated for at least 2,500 years. They are still used for hunting rabbits in some parts of the world, but increasingly, they are kept only as pets.
Being so closely related to polecats, ferrets easily hybridize with them, and this has occasionally resulted in feral colonies of polecat-ferret hybrids that have caused damage to native fauna, especially in New Zealand. As a result, some parts of the world have imposed restrictions on the keeping of ferrets.
A ferret is a domesticated animal. Ferret may also refer to:
Other Animals- The Black-footed ferret, a wild animal from North America
- Ferret Data Visualization and Analysis, an interactive visualization and analysis meteorology software.
- The Ferret armoured car, a British-produced fighting vehicle.
- HMS Ferret, the name of a number of ships and shore establishments of the Royal Navy
- Fairey Ferret, a British biplane
- Ferret is another name for Electronic signals intelligence-gathering aircraft.
- Ferret Music, a record label
- The Ferrets (band), an Australian pop/rock band
- Pierre Ferret (1908–1978), a Gypsy jazz guitarist and composer
- Val Ferret, a valley on the Swiss side of the Mont Blanc Massif
- Cap Ferret, a headland on France's Atlantic coast
- Ferret game or Button, button, who's got the button?
- The Ferret, a consumer affairs television programme on HTV Wales
- Ferret (comics), a Timely Comics character from the Golden Age of Comic Books.
- Bait in fishing
Usage examples of "ferret".
The ferrets were removed the evening of the murders by the Allegheny Animal Control Department and taken to the humane shelter on the North Side.
Edwin Warrener come to bring some conies for our supper an a parcel of ferrets for your entertainment.
He then winked at Elys, asked her gravely if she would be so kind as to tell Mistress Mayngod that Edwin was busy with an injured ferret, and would not be bringing any conies until tomorrow.
Edwin had spent the whole of the previous night out with his ferrets, which thought this a desirable departure from his normal expectation that they should work during the day, when, as any ferret knows, conies are out of their burrows and harder to catch, and any sensible ferret fast asleep.
It was a show, Corvus knew: underneath the genteel exterior was a man with all the refinement and sensitivity of a ferret.
For Ixil, a starship-engine mechanic, the ferrets were invaluable in dealing with wiring or tubing or anything else involving tight spaces or narrow conduits.
The two ferrets came in twice while I was talking, dumping their scouting information on Ixil and presumably getting new instructions before scampering off again.
Perhaps they had not completely eluded the Kirghiz, but he believed it would take some time for even those human bloodhounds to ferret them out, and he did not fear discovery by the inhabitants of Yolgan.
Ferret was a teller in the Middletown Trust Company, the bank situated in the center of the block he had noticed on his first day in town.
He and Ferret had become but recently acquainted, as far as Middletown knew.
CHAPTER VII THE SHADOW PONDERS AT the very moment when Ferret, in Middletown, was fancying that the affairs of Joel Hawkins were of little interest elsewhere, a brain in uptown New York was thinking of Ferret.
CHAPTER XVII JUDGE KEEPS AN APPOINTMENT IN the dimly lighted banking room of the Middletown Trust Company, Major and Ferret were at work.
Professional ratcatchers ferreted the bank once or twice, and filled their iron cages.
Ugly animals the size of ferrets, sometime burrow-raiders who scavenged opportunistically from the kills of other predators, the miacoids were an unprepossessing bunch, but nonetheless were the ancestors of the mighty cats and wolves and bears of later times.
Others would fly aboard EP-3B ferret aircraft that eavesdropped near the massive Soviet port of Vladivostok and elsewhere.