skunk

/skʌɳk/

Thân thiện

A skunk waddles across a quiet suburban lawn at dusk.

Definition

1. Noun:

   • A small, black-and-white North American mammal: A musteline mammal known for its distinctive black and white fur and its ability to spray an intensely foul-smelling liquid as a defense mechanism when threatened.
   • A contemptible person: (Slang) A person who is considered to be mean, unpleasant, or despicable.
   • A decisive defeat: (Informal) A defeat in a game or contest, especially one in which the losing side fails to score any points.
   • Marijuana: (Slang) A street name for the drug marijuana.

2. Verb:

   • To defeat decisively: (Informal, chiefly North American) To defeat an opponent thoroughly, especially by preventing them from scoring.

Examples

• Noun (Animal):
  • We saw a skunk crossing the road at dusk.
  • The smell of a skunk's spray is very hard to remove.
• Noun (Person):
  • He lied to his friends and proved himself a real skunk.
  • Only a skunk would steal from a charity box.
• Noun (Defeat):
  • Our team suffered a humiliating skunk, losing 10-0.
• Verb:
  • The home team skunked their rivals 7-0 in the final match.

Advanced Usage

• "To skunk someone": This verb form is primarily used in informal North American contexts related to sports or games, emphasizing a complete shutout.
  • In our weekly card game, she managed to skunk us three hands in a row.

Variants and Related Words

• Skunked (adj): Having been defeated decisively without scoring.
  • The skunked team left the field in silence.
• Skunkworks (n): This is a separate, advanced term referring to a small, autonomous group within a large organization tasked with advanced or secret projects. It is derived from the "Li'l Abner" comic strip, not directly from the animal.
  • The innovative design was developed in the company's skunkworks.

Synonyms

• Noun (Animal): Polecat (in some regional uses).
• Noun (Person): Rat, creep, jerk, scoundrel.
• Noun (Defeat): Shutout, whitewash.
• Verb: Trounce, thrash, whitewash, shut out.

Related Phrasal Verbs/Phrases

(The word "skunk" itself is not commonly used in phrasal verb constructions. Its verbal use is typically direct.)

Related Idioms

• "Drunk as a skunk": (Informal) Extremely intoxicated. This idiom plays on the rhyme rather than any behavior of the actual animal.
  • After the party, he was drunk as a skunk.

Học thuật

Noun

1. American musteline mammal typically ejecting an intensely malodorous fluid when startled; in some classifications put in a separate subfamily Mephitinae
2. street names for marijuana
3. a defeat in a game where one side fails to score
4. a person who is deemed to be despicable or contemptible
   • only a rotter would do that
   • kill the rat
   • throw the bum out
   • you cowardly little pukes!
   • the British call a contemptible person a `git'

Verb

1. defeat by a lurch

Từ đồng nghĩa

• polecat
• wood pussy
• shutout
• lurch