Definition of "ferret" []

• A weasellike, usually albino mammal (Mustela putorius furo) related to the polecat and often trained to hunt rats or rabbits. (noun)
• A black-footed ferret. (noun)
• To hunt (rabbits, for example) with ferrets. (verb-transitive)
• To drive out, as from a hiding place; expel. (verb-transitive)
• To uncover and bring to light by searching. Often used with out: "Their work merely points the way for others to ferret out the core components of all proteins” ( Natalie Angier). (verb-transitive)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Pivot, our undescented female ferret, is two today."
• "Telemna, our crazy silvermitt female ferret, is five today."
• "The ferret is shortly joined by his master, a man named Dustfinger."