/skʌŋk/
OriginFrom an unattested Southern New England Algonquian word, cognate with Abenaki segôgw, segonku (“he who squirts (musk) / urinates”), from Proto-Algonquian *šeka·kwa, from *šek- (“to urinate”). Doublet of Chicago.
- USAny of various small mammals, of most genera 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.
“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.”
- US, slangA walkover victory in sports or board games, as when the opposing side is unable to score.
- USA win by thirty or more points. (A double skunk is sixty or more, a triple skunk ninety or more.)
- USA 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.”
“2011, Gerard DeGroot (quoting Brown), Seventies Unplugged
[…] mods, skins, suedes, smoothies, punks, skunks, rude boys, soul boys and headbangers […]”
- US, abbreviation, alt-of, clipping, countableClipping of skunkweed, type of marijuana.
- US, countable, uncountableAny of the strains of hybrids of Cannabis sativa and Cannabis indica that may have THC levels exceeding those of typical hashish.
- US, slang, transitiveTo defeat so badly as to prevent any opposing points.
“I skunked him at cards.”
“We fished all day but the lake skunked us.”
- USTo win by thirty or more points.
- US, intransitiveTo go bad, to spoil.
Formsskunks(plural) · scunck(alternative) · skunks(present, singular, third-person) · skunking(participle, present) · skunked(participle, past) · skunked(past)