Definitions
A black-and-white mammal known for a strong smell, or to defeat completely.
Word origin
Borrowed from an unattested Southern New England Eastern Algonquian word cognate with Abenaki segôgw (literally “he who squirts (musk) / urinates”), from Proto-Algonquian *šeka·kwa, from *šek- (“to urinate”). Doublet of Chicago.
Used in a sentence
“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.”
“In fact, the term he applied to this species of human being was "skunk," and he used it freely.”
“On the other hand, many critics contend that in terms of literary quality, many of the multiple-storyline books are true skunks.”
Source: Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0
Used as a crossword answer1 curated clues
01“Bad smell source”5 letters
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