Meaning & use
skunk
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Meanings
nouncountable
A black-and-white mammal of North and South America that sprays a foul-smelling liquid when frightened.
Grammar: Plural is skunks.
A skunk wandered across the yard at dusk.
Our dog was sprayed by a skunk and smelled for days.
The skunk lifted its tail as a warning.
nouncountableinformalold-fashioneddisapproving
A mean or hateful person, used as an insult.
Grammar: Old-fashioned and informal.
He turned out to be a real skunk, taking credit for her work.
The old film villain was called a lousy skunk.
noununcountableBritishslang
A strong-smelling kind of cannabis, informal in British English.
Grammar: Mostly British.
The report described the rise of skunk in the city.
Police warned about strong strains such as skunk.
verbtransitiveinformalAmerican
To defeat an opponent badly, especially so that they score nothing.
Grammar: Often passive: we got skunked.
Patterns
- skunk someone
Our team skunked the visitors ten to zero.
We got skunked in the fishing contest, catching nothing.
Word forms
| plural | skunks |
|---|---|
| third person singular | skunks |
| past tense | skunked |
| -ing form | skunking |
Common combinations
- striped skunk
- A striped skunk lives under the porch.
- skunk smell
- The skunk smell drifted through the window.
- skunk spray
- Tomato juice is a folk cure for skunk spray.
- get skunked
- We got skunked in the final game.
- skunk cabbage
- Skunk cabbage grows in the wet woods.
Synonyms and how they differ
- polecat
- Polecat is a European animal and also an old American name for the skunk.
- rotter
- Rotter is a British, dated insult for a contemptible person, a milder echo of skunk.
- shut out
- Shut out is the sport term for stopping an opponent from scoring, and is less colorful than skunk.
- blank
- Blank as a verb means to hold the other side to no score, and is common in sports reporting.
Word family
- skunky adjective
- smelling bad, like stale beer
- skunkworks noun
- a small secretive innovation team
- skunked adjective
- beaten with no score, or spoiled by light, said of beer
Commonly confused: skunk or polecat?
skunk vs polecat
A European polecat is a different animal that also gives off a smell, but it is not a skunk.
Practice
In the final match, our team was ___ and failed to score at all.
Choose one answer.
To be skunked means to lose without scoring. The other verbs look similar but do not mean this.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “skunk”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.