skunk

USSKUNK/skʌŋk/SKUNGK/skʌŋk/

Pluralskunks

Verbskunks, skunking, skunked

11 meanings of skunk

Practice

1
nounUScountable
A small black-and-white animal that sprays a strong, bad smell to protect itself.
Like a living spray can that shoots out a terrible smell when something scares it.
A skunk wandered into our backyard at night.
We saw two skunks near the trash cans.
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2
verbslangUStransitive
To beat another team so completely that they score no points at all.
Like winning a game where the other side never gets on the scoreboard.
We could skunk them if our defense holds up.
They skunked the other team in last night's game.
Similarwhitewash, blank, trounce, thrash, rout
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3
nounslangUScountable
A one-sided win in a game where the losing side scores nothing at all.
Like a race where one runner finishes and the other never even starts.
The game ended in a skunk, with one team never scoring.
Their opponents handed them a humiliating skunk.
Similarshutout, whitewash, rout, drubbing, thrashing
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4
nounUScountable or uncountable
A very strong kind of marijuana made by crossing two cannabis plants.
He grew skunk in his attic under bright lamps.
One puff of that skunk made her cough hard.
5
nounslangUScountable or uncountableabbreviationclipping
A short way of saying skunkweed: a kind of marijuana with a very strong smell.
Someone was smoking skunk in the alley, and the whole street could smell it.
He kept a bag of skunk hidden in his locker.
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6
verbUSintransitive
To turn bad and no longer be good to use.
Like fruit that turns brown and smelly after sitting too long.
The milk will skunk if you leave it out.
Leftovers skunk fast in the summer heat.
Similarspoil, turn, sour
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7
nounUScountable
In cribbage, a win where you beat the other player by thirty or more points.
Like winning a race by a whole lap.
She won the round with a clean skunk.
Beating him by that much counted as a skunk.
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8
verbUStransitive
In cribbage, to beat your opponent by thirty or more points.
Like beating someone so badly they barely score.
If she pegs well, she'll skunk him this game.
They skunked us twice in a row.
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9
nounUScountable
A person in a group that mixes skinhead and punk culture.
The skunk at the show wore heavy boots, a shaved head and a punk band jacket.
Some of the punks at the club had become skunks, mixing punk clothes with skinhead boots.
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Less common meanings

10
nounderogatorydatedUScountable
A mean, nasty person whom others strongly dislike.
Like calling someone a rat for doing something mean.
Only a skunk would lie to his own family.
She called her cheating ex a real skunk.
Similarrat, louse, scoundrel, heel, creep
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11
nounderogatorydatedUScountable
Something that is really bad or of very poor quality.
Like a toy that breaks the very first day you use it.
That old car was a real skunk.
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, numbers 5-8Here, skunks means very bad or worthless things, real stinkers.
Similarstinker, flop, turkey, dud, disaster
Oppositehit, success, triumph
Note

Practice

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Origins

Meanings 1–3, 6–8, 10–11

It comes from a Native American (Algonquian) word meaning something like "he who squirts musk."

Meaning 9

It is a mix of "skinhead" and "punk," also shaped by the animal called a skunk.

Meanings 4–5

It comes from "skunkweed," a name for a strong-smelling kind of marijuana.