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.
Phrases and idioms:
weasel-faced having thin sharp features. weasel word (usu. in pl.) a word that is intentionally ambiguous or misleading.
Derivatives:
weaselly adj.
Etymology: OE wesle, wesule f. WG