skunk

See also: Skunk

English

A striped skunk, Mephitis mephitis.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /skʌŋk/
  • Rhymes: -ʌŋk

Etymology 1

At first spelt squunck, from the Abenaki name for the animal, segôgw, segonku (“he who squirts (musk) / urinates”), from Proto-Algonquian *šeka·kwa, from *šek- (“to urinate”).

Noun

skunk (plural skunks)

  1. Any of various small mammals, of the family Mephitidae, native to North and Central America, having a glossy black with a white coat and two musk glands at the base of the tail for emitting a noxious smell as a defensive measure.
  2. (slang) A despicable person.
  3. (slang) A walkover victory in sports or board games, as when the opposing side is unable to score. Compare shutout.
  4. (cribbage) A win by 30 or more points.
Derived terms
Descendants
Translations

Verb

skunk (third-person singular simple present skunks, present participle skunking, simple past and past participle skunked)

  1. To defeat so badly as to prevent any opposing points.
    I skunked him at cards.
    We fished all day but the lake skunked us.
  2. (cribbage) To win by 30 or more points.
  3. (intransitive, of beer) to go bad, to spoil

See also

Etymology 2

Blend of skinhead +‎ punk, influenced by the animal (Etymology 1).

Noun

skunk (plural skunks)

  1. A member of a hybrid skinhead and punk subculture.
    • 2006, Pam Nilan, Carles Feixa, Global Youth?: Hybrid Identities, Plural Worlds (page 192)
      In the early 1980s, certain ex-punks joined them, becoming 'skunks' – a hybrid subculture of skinheads and punks.
    • 2011, Gerard DeGroot (quoting Brown), Seventies Unplugged
      […] mods, skins, suedes, smoothies, punks, skunks, rude boys, soul boys and headbangers […]

Etymology 3

From skunkweed (“certain highly aromatic marijuana”)

Noun

skunk (countable and uncountable, plural skunks)

  1. (slang) Clipping of skunkweed (marijuana).
  2. Any of the strains of hybrids of Cannabis sativa and Cannabis indica that may have THC levels exceeding those of typical hashish.

Czech

Noun

skunk m

  1. skunk (animal)

Further reading

  • skunk in Příruční slovník jazyka českého, 1935–1957
  • skunk in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého, 1960–1971, 1989

Swedish

Noun

skunk c

  1. a skunk

Declension

Declension of skunk 
Singular Plural
Indefinite Definite Indefinite Definite
Nominative skunk skunken skunkar skunkarna
Genitive skunks skunkens skunkars skunkarnas
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