# ferret

Pronunciation: say "FE-rit" /ˈfɛɹɪt/

## Noun

1. A small domesticated mammal related to the weasel, descended from the polecat and often trained to hunt rabbits and other burrowing animals.
   - Simple: A small furry animal like a weasel that people keep as a pet or use to hunt rabbits.
   - _The hunter sent a ferret down the rabbit hole to flush out the prey._
   - _Ferrets sleep for much of the day and become active around dusk._
4. A person who searches relentlessly and uncovers things others have missed or hidden.
   - Simple: A person who is very good at finding hidden things.
   - _The journalist earned a reputation as a ferret who could find any buried record._
   - _Tax inspectors are ferrets by trade, sniffing out every hidden penny._
5. A black-footed North American mammal of the weasel family (Mustela nigripes), once nearly extinct and now the focus of careful recovery programs.
   - Simple: A wild North American animal of the weasel family, with black feet, that almost died out completely.
   - _Reintroduction programs have slowly returned the ferret to grasslands where it had been declared extinct._
   - _Each ferret in the recovery program is monitored closely for signs of disease._

## Verb

2. To discover something hidden by searching persistently, most often expressed as to ferret out.
   - Simple: To find something hidden by searching hard for it.
   - _Auditors ferret out small errors buried deep in the company accounts._
   - _Reporters spent months trying to ferret out who leaked the documents._
3. To hunt rabbits or other game by releasing trained ferrets into their burrows to drive the animals out.
   - Simple: To hunt rabbits by sending ferrets into their holes to chase them out.
   - _Local farmers ferret for rabbits to keep the warren from spreading._
   - _The men went ferreting across the hills at dawn._

## Noun

6. A narrow woven tape of silk, cotton, or ribbon, used to tie up documents or clothing, or to bind the edge of a fabric. *(dated)*
   - Simple: A narrow strip of silk, cotton, or ribbon used to tie up papers or clothes, or to cover the edge of cloth.
   - _The clerk bound each file with a strip of black ferret before shelving it._
   - _Her seamstress finished the hem with a narrow silk ferret._

## Origin

**Meanings 1–5** — From Middle English furet, from Old French furet, from Vulgar Latin *furittum ("weasel, ferret"), a diminutive of Latin fūr ("thief").
**Meaning 6** — From Italian fioretto.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/ferret (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).