skunk
/skʌŋk/
skunk noun: any of various mammals of the subfamily Mephitinae, native to North and Central America, having a glossy black coat with white markings and two musk glands at the base of the tail for emitting a noxious smell as a defensive measure. Also the clipping of skunkweed.
Noun (1)
skunk (plural skunks)
- Any of various mammals of the subfamily Mephitinae, native to North and Central America, having a glossy black coat with white markings and two musk glands at the base of the tail for emitting a noxious smell as a defensive measure.
- The beaſts of offence be Squunckes, Ferrets, Foxes, vvhoſe impudence ſometimes drives them to the good vvives Hen rooſt, to fill their Paunch: ſome of theſe be blacke; their furre is of much eſteeme.1634, William Wood, “Of the Beasts that Live on the Land”, in New Englands Prospect. A True, Lively, and Experimentall Description of that Part of America, Commonly Called New England; […], London...
- A despicable person.
- In fact, the term he applied to this species of human being was "skunk," and he used it freely.1913, Norman Lindsay, A Curate in Bohemia, Sydney: N.S.W. Bookstall Co., published 1932, page 152
- Anything very bad; a stinker.
- On the other hand, many critics contend that in terms of literary quality, many of the multiple-storyline books are true skunks.1987, English Journal, volume 76, numbers 5-8, page 52
- A walkover victory in sports or board games, as when the opposing side is unable to score.
- A win by thirty or more points. (A double skunk is sixty or more, a triple skunk ninety or more.)
Verb
skunk (third-person singular simple present skunks, present participle skunking, simple past and past participle skunked)
- To spray someone with a strong-smelling liquid.
- "Yeah, Nolan tried to skunk me. Malcolm's making him clean up the pit right now,” said Simon, heading over to his dresser.
“That explains the smell,” muttered the mouse. “You need a shower.”2017 February 7, Aimée Carter, Simon Thorn and the Viper's Pit, Bloomsbury Publishing USA, →ISBN, page 11 - "While the two of them were having the time of their lives running around the park and doing whatever else they may have been doing, Walter must have been showing off for that poodle, and he got himself skunked."
"Are you telling me as skunk sprayed him?"2024 February 1, Donny Friedman, Finding Kathleen, iUniverse, →ISBN
- "Yeah, Nolan tried to skunk me. Malcolm's making him clean up the pit right now,” said Simon, heading over to his dresser.
- To defeat so badly as to prevent any opposing points.
- I skunked him at cards.
- We fished all day but the lake skunked us.
- To win by thirty or more points.
- To go bad, to spoil.
Noun (2)
skunk (plural skunks)
- A member of a hybrid skinhead and punk subculture.
- In the early 1980s, certain ex-punks joined them, becoming 'skunks' – a hybrid subculture of skinheads and punks.2006, Pam Nilan, Carles Feixa, Global Youth?: Hybrid Identities, Plural Worlds, page 192
- […] mods, skins, suedes, smoothies, punks, skunks, rude boys, soul boys and headbangers […]2011, Gerard DeGroot (quoting Brown), Seventies Unplugged
Noun (3)
skunk (countable and uncountable, plural skunks)
Proper noun capitalized: Skunk
Skunk
- A river in Iowa, United States; tributary of the Mississippi.
- A river in Morrison County, Minnesota, United States; tributary of the Platte.
Also used as
skunk is also the clipping of skunkweed.
skunk meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
skunk in Hindi
- animal
- स्कंक skaṅk
skunk in Tamil
- ஸ்கங்க், ஸ்கன்க்
skunk in Marathi
- स्कंक, स्कंक करा
skunk in Urdu
- اسکنک, سکنک
More languagesFewer languages
- skunk in Bengali
- স্কান্ক, স্কঙ্ক
- skunk in Telugu
- స్కంక్, స్కంక్ చేయండి, స్కంక్ చెయ్యడానికి
- skunk in Malayalam
- സ്കങ്ക്, സ്കംക്, സ്കംക്ക്
- skunk in Kannada
- ಸ್ಕಂಕ್, ಸ್ಕಂಕ್ ಮಾಡಿ
- skunk in Punjabi
- ਸਕੰਕ
- skunk in Gujarati
- સ્કંક, સ્કંક કરો
- skunk in Odia
- ସ୍କଙ୍କ, ସ୍କଂକ୍, ସ୍କଂକ୍ କରନ୍ତୁ
- skunk in Nepali
- स्कङ्क, स्कन्क, स्कङ्क गर्न
- skunk in Pashto
- ژګاګ žigâg
- skunk in Arabic
- ظَرِبَان ẓaribān
- skunk in Malay
- skunk
- skunk in Indonesian
- sigung
- skunk in Persian
- راسو
- skunk in Thai
- สกังก์ sà-gáng
- skunk in Vietnamese
- chồn hôi
Examples of skunk in a sentence
- We found some skunked beer in the abandoned cabin, but it was not worth drinking.
- Skunks are the worst stinkers in the animal kingdom.
- A skunk sat on a stump and thunk the stump stunk, but the stump thunk that the skunk stunk.
Forms of skunk
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | skunks |
| alternative form | scunck |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | skunks |
| present participle | skunking |
| past participle | skunked |
| past | skunked |
Origin of skunk
Borrowed from an unattested Southern New England Eastern Algonquian word cognate with Abenaki segôgw (literally “he who squirts (musk) / urinates”), from Proto-Algonquian *šeka·kwa, from *šek- (“to urinate”). Doublet of Chicago.
Blend of skinhead + punk, influenced by the animal (Etymology 1).
From skunkweed (“certain highly aromatic marijuana”).
Words formed from skunk
- badger skunk
- big skunk
- deskunk
- drunk as a skunk
- drunker than a skunk
- hog-nosed skunk
- hooded skunk
- hydrophobia skunk
- knock a skunk off a gut wagon
- rooter skunk
- skunk ape
- skunk at a garden party
- skunk at the garden party
- skunkbag
- skunkball
- skunkbear
- skunk bear (Gulo gulo
- skunkbill
- skunkbird
- skunk blackbird
- skunkbush
- skunk cabbage)
- skunk currant
- skunk dolphin
- skunked term
- skunkery
- skunk grass
- skunk grease
- skunkhead
- skunkie
- skunkish
- skunkless
- skunklet
- skunklike
- skunk oil
- skunk pig
- skunk porpoise
- skunk pox
- skunk spruce
- skunk tail
- skunk tree
- skunk turtle
- skunk up
- skunkweed
- skunk-weed
- skunk works
- skunkworks
- skunky
- spotted skunk
- stink a skunk off a gut wagon
- striped skunk
Phrases with skunk
Words that rhyme with skunk
Questions about skunk
- What does skunk mean?
- Skunk means any of various mammals of the subfamily Mephitinae, native to North and Central America, having a glossy black coat with white markings and two musk glands at the base of the tail for emitting a noxious smell as a defensive measure.
- What is skunk in Hindi?
- Skunk in Hindi is स्कंक (skaṅk). See Skunk meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is skunk?
- Skunk can be a noun, a verb or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce skunk?
- Skunk is pronounced /skʌŋk/.
- What is the plural of skunk?
- The plural of skunk is skunks.
Words near skunk in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: skunk (page history and authors); Skunk (page history and authors); skunk (Tamil, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); skunk (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); skunk (Urdu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); skunk (Bengali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); skunk (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); skunk (Malayalam, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); skunk (Kannada, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); skunk (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); skunk (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); skunk (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); skunk (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-au-skunk.ogg.
Cite this entry: “skunk.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/skunk. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.