ferret

1 of 3

noun (1)

fer·​ret ˈfer-ət How to pronounce ferret (audio)
1
a
: a domesticated usually albino, brownish, or silver-gray animal (Mustela putorius furo) that is descended from the European polecat
2
: an active and persistent searcher
ferrety adjective

ferret

2 of 3

verb

ferreted; ferreting; ferrets

intransitive verb

1
: to hunt with ferrets
2
: to search about

transitive verb

1
a(1)
: to hunt (animals, such as rabbits) with ferrets
(2)
: to force out of hiding : flush
b
: to find and bring to light by searching
usually used with out
ferret out the answers
2
ferreter noun

ferret

3 of 3

noun (2)

: a narrow cotton, silk, or wool tape

called also ferreting

Did you know?

Ferret as a Verb

Since the 14th century, English speakers have used ferret as the name of a small, slinky, domesticated mammal of the weasel family. The word came to us by way of Anglo-French and can be traced back to the Latin word fur, meaning "thief." These days ferrets are often kept as pets, but previously they were used to hunt rabbits, rats, and other vermin, and to drive them from their underground burrows. By the 15th century, the verb ferret was being used for the action of hunting with ferrets. By the late 16th century, the verb had taken on figurative uses as well. Today, we most frequently encounter the verb ferret in the sense of "to find and bring to light by searching."

Examples of ferret in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
Have your dogs, cats and ferrets vaccinated against rabies and keep vaccinations up-to-date. Molly Fellin Spence, Baltimore Sun, 30 Jan. 2024 The ferret fell from a fifth-floor balcony in 2017, causing severe spinal trauma and chronic pain. Rachel Nuwer, New York Times, 6 Feb. 2024 Rabies is most often seen in raccoons, cats, skunks, foxes, groundhogs and bats in Maryland, but can sometimes be seen in other animals such as dogs, ferrets, deer, and even cows and other farm animals, the news release stated. Molly Fellin Spence, Baltimore Sun, 30 Jan. 2024 That changed in the 13th century, when Māori voyagers brought rats and dogs, and again in the 19th century, when European settlers brought more rats, cats and mustelids like weasels, stoats and ferrets. Rina Diane Caballar, Smithsonian Magazine, 26 Dec. 2023 In this cafe alone, in Seoul’s trendy university district Hongdae, there are more than 40 species – including porcupines, snakes, foxes and ferrets – according to a sign on the door advertising it as a unique date spot. Cnn.com Wire Service, The Mercury News, 12 Jan. 2024 So instead, researchers expose guinea pigs, rats, mice, or ferrets, depending on the pathogen. WIRED, 19 Nov. 2023 Question 2 of 10 Black-footed ferrets were thought to be extinct until an unlikely event led to them being rediscovered. Lee Powell, Washington Post, 17 Nov. 2023 Viruses behave differently in ferrets than in humans, and mutations that may enhance one variant can have different effects on another. Sheryl Gay Stolberg, New York Times, 16 Oct. 2023
Verb
Half the fun for diehard Poe fans is ferreting all the hidden Easter eggs and savoring the ingenious ways Flanagan has riffed on the source material. Ars Staff, Ars Technica, 29 Dec. 2023 To bring people in and keep them, Caldwell said that along with offering more sign-on bonuses and time off, small and midsize companies in Silicon Valley are offering more competitive stock options along with referral bonuses to help ferret the right people out in a mostly remote world. Chase Difeliciantonio, San Francisco Chronicle, 8 Nov. 2021 The incentive to ferret them out has only increased; Putin has recently made several appeals for the F.S.B. to be on alert for those seeking to undermine and destabilize the Russian state. Joshua Yaffa, The New Yorker, 31 Mar. 2023 There, researcher and Biological Dynamics founder Raj Krishnan, figured out how to use alternating current to ferret out very small bio-markers from blood and other liquid solutions. San Diego Union-Tribune, 24 Jan. 2023 And so do many in the corporate world, despite the thorough process of background checks, personal references and verification that seeks to ferret out fabrications. Matthew Boyle, Fortune, 16 Jan. 2023 The chances of a teacher being able to ferret out that the essay was written by AI and not by the student are nearly next to zero. Scandalous! Lance Eliot, Forbes, 18 Dec. 2022 So Parker poses as a secretary — too-tight pencil skirts and all — at Strange Crime, hoping to ferret out clues. Sarah Weinman, New York Times, 23 Nov. 2022 New rules and enforcement actions are coming to ferret out crypto transactions that often went unreported in the past. Laura Saunders, WSJ, 11 Nov. 2022

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'ferret.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Noun (1)

Middle English furet, ferret, from Anglo-French firet, furet, from Vulgar Latin *furittus, literally, little thief, diminutive of Latin fur thief — more at furtive

Noun (2)

probably modification of Italian fioretti floss silk, from plural of fioretto, diminutive of fiore flower, from Latin flor-, flos — more at blow

First Known Use

Noun (1)

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Verb

15th century, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense 1

Noun (2)

1649, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of ferret was in the 14th century

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Dictionary Entries Near ferret

Cite this Entry

“Ferret.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ferret. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

ferret

1 of 2 noun
fer·​ret ˈfer-ət How to pronounce ferret (audio)
1
: a domesticated usually albino, brownish, or silver-gray mammal closely related to the European polecat
2

ferret

2 of 2 verb
1
: to drive out of a hiding place
2
: to find and bring to light by searching
usually used with out

More from Merriam-Webster on ferret

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