ferret
/ˈfɛɹɪt/
ferret noun: an often domesticated mammal (Mustela putorius furo) rather like a weasel, descended from the European polecat and often trained to hunt burrowing animals.
Noun (1)
ferret (plural ferrets)
- An often domesticated mammal (Mustela putorius furo) rather like a weasel, descended from the European polecat and often trained to hunt burrowing animals.
- A black-footed ferret (Mustela nigripes).
- A diligent searcher.
- The most challenging documentary discoveries were made by a tenacious archival ferret, Dr Antonio Bertoletti. In 1879 he published his findings in a slim, refreshingly dry volume, Francesco Cenci e la sua Famiglia.1998 July 2, Charles Nicholl, “Screaming in the Castle”, in London Review of Books, volume XX, number 13
Verb
ferret (third-person singular simple present ferrets, present participle ferreting, simple past and past participle ferreted)
- To hunt game with ferrets.
- To uncover and bring to light by searching; usually to ferret out.
- Master Fer! I'll fer him, and firk him, and ferret him.1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life of Henry the Fift”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount...
- I confess that we were so unpopular with the outrageous mob, that I only got away from England at the risk of being ducked to death, and that Cly was so ferreted up and down, that he never would have got away at all but for that sham.1859, Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities
Noun (2)
ferret
ferret meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
ferret in Hindi
- फेरेट, फेरट, फ़ेरेट
ferret in Tamil
- the mammal Mustela putorius furo
- மரநாய் வகை maranāy vakai
ferret in Marathi
- फेरेट, फेरट, फेरेट करण्यासाठी
ferret in Urdu
- ڈھونڈنے, تلاش کرنے کا ماہر
More languagesFewer languages
- ferret in Bengali
- খুঁজে বের করা
- ferret in Telugu
- ఫెరెట్, ఫెర్రేట్, ఫెర్రెట్
- ferret in Malayalam
- ശ്രദ്ധാപൂർവം തിരയുക, ചികയുക, കീച്ചുക, കിണ്ടുക
- ferret in Kannada
- ಹುಡುಕಾಡು
- ferret in Punjabi
- ਫੇਰਟ, ਫੈਰੇਟ, ਫੇਰੇਟ
- ferret in Gujarati
- ફેરેટ, ફેરટ
- ferret in Odia
- ଫେରେଟ, ଫେରେଟ୍
- ferret in Nepali
- फेरेट, फेरट, फेरेट गर्न
- ferret in Arabic
- اِبْنُ مِقْرَض ibnu miqraḍ
- ferret in Malay
- feret
- ferret in Persian
- راسو râsu
- ferret in Thai
- เฟร์ริต fee-rìt
Examples of ferret in a sentence
- He had been piqued by the failure of all his endeavors to ferret out the assassins.1842, Edgar Alan Poe, The Mistery of Marie Roget:
- She ferreted in her bag; then held it up mouth downwards; then fumbled in her lap, all so vigorously that Charles Steele in the Panama hat suspended his paint-brush.1922, Virginia Woolf, chapter 1, in Jacob's Room:
Forms of ferret
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | ferrets |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | ferrets |
| present participle | ferreting |
| past participle | ferreted |
| past | ferreted |
Origin of ferret
From Middle English furet, ferret, from Old French furet, from Vulgar Latin *furittum (“weasel, ferret”), diminutive of Latin fūr (“thief”).
Borrowed from Italian fioretto.
Words formed from ferret
Phrases with ferret
Words that rhyme with ferret
Questions about ferret
- What does ferret mean?
- Ferret means an often domesticated mammal (Mustela putorius furo) rather like a weasel, descended from the European polecat and often trained to hunt burrowing animals.
- What is ferret in Hindi?
- Ferret in Hindi is फेरेट, फेरट, फ़ेरेट. See Ferret meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use ferret in a sentence?
- He had been piqued by the failure of all his endeavors to ferret out the assassins.
- What part of speech is ferret?
- Ferret can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce ferret?
- Ferret is pronounced /ˈfɛɹɪt/.
- What is the plural of ferret?
- The plural of ferret is ferrets.
Words near ferret in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: ferret (page history and authors); ferret (Hindi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); ferret (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); ferret (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); Ferret (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ferret (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); ferret (Olam, E.K. Kurup corpus) (dataset and license); ferret (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ferret (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); ferret (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); ferret (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); ferret (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-ferret.ogg.
Cite this entry: “ferret.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/ferret. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.