Meaning & use
possum
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Meanings
nouncountable
A small marsupial with a pointed face and a long tail, active at night.
Grammar: Countable: one possum, two possums. In North America, the full form opossum is also common.
Patterns
- a possum
- possums
A possum was eating the fruit that had fallen from the tree.
Possums often come out at night to look for food.
We saw a possum climbing slowly along the fence.
nouncountableAustralian
A marsupial of Australia and nearby islands that lives in trees and has a thick tail.
Grammar: In Australian English, possum usually refers to this tree-dwelling animal, not the American opossum.
Patterns
- a possum
- possums
A possum was hiding in the roof of our house.
Australian possums are protected and cannot be kept as pets.
The possum moved through the trees at dusk.
Word forms
| plural | possums |
|---|
Common combinations
- play possum
- When the dog approached, the rabbit played possum and stayed perfectly still.
- a possum in the roof
- We could hear a possum in the roof at night.
- possum fur
- The hat was made of soft possum fur.
Synonyms and how they differ
- opossum
- The full, formal name for the American animal; possum is the common short form in North America.
Word family
- opossum noun
- The formal name for the American marsupial.
Commonly confused: possum or opossum?
possum vs opossum
In North America, opossum is the formal name and possum is a common short form for the same animal. In Australia, possum refers to a different animal.
Practice
In North America, the formal name for the animal often called a possum is ______.
Choose one answer.
Opossum is the full name for the American marsupial; possum is a common short form. Kangaroo, koala, and wombat are different Australian marsupials.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “possum”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.