[pole.cat] n, pl polecats or polecat [ME polcat, prob. fr. MF poul, pol cock + ME cat; prob. fr. its preying on poultry--more at pullet] (14c) 1: any of several carnivorous mammals (as of the genera Mustela or Vormela) of the weasel family; esp: a brown to black European mammal (M. putorius) from which the domesticated ferret is derived
2: skunk