n. & v.
n. 1 a small reddish-brown flesh-eating mammal, Mustela nivalis, with a slender body, related to the stoat and ferret. 2 a stoat. 3 colloq. a deceitful or treacherous person.
v.intr. (weaselled, weaselling; US weaseled, weaseling) 1 esp. US equivocate or quibble. 2 (foll. by on, out) default on an obligation. weasel-faced having thin sharp features. weasel word (usu. in pl.) a word that is intentionally ambiguous or misleading. weaselly adj.
[ OE wesle, wesule f. WG ]