Category:Ferret

Fer"ret, n. Etym: [F. furet, cf. LL. furo; prob. fr. L. fur thief (cf. Furtive); cf. Arm. fur wise, sly.] (Zoöl.)

Defn: An animal of the Weasel family (Mustela or Putorius furo), about fourteen inches in length, of a pale yellow or white color, with red eyes. It is a native of Africa, but has been domesticated in Europe. Ferrets are used to drive rabbits and rats out of their holes.

ferret Fer"ret, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Ferreted; p. pr. & vb. n. Ferreting.] Etym: [Cf. F. fureter. See Ferret, n.]

Defn: To drive or hunt out of a lurking place, as a ferret does the cony; to search out by patient and sagacious efforts; -- often used with out; as, to ferret out a secret. Master Fer! I'll fer him, and firk him, and ferret him. Shak.

ferret Fer"ret, n. Etym: [Ital. foretto, dim. of fiore flower; or F. fleuret. Cf. Floret.]

Defn: A kind of narrow tape, usually made of woolen; sometimes of cotton or silk; -- called also ferreting.

ferret Fer"ret, n. Etym: [F. feret, dim. or fer iron, L. ferrum.] (Glass Making)

Defn: The iron used for trying the melted glass to see if is fit to work, and for shaping the rings at the mouths of bottles.

- ---excerpt from the Illustrated Bible Dictionary

Ferret - Leviticus 11:30 (R.V., "gecko"), one of the unclean creeping things. It was perhaps the Lacerta gecko which was intended by the Hebrew word (anakah, a cry, "mourning," the creature which groans) here used, i.e., the "fan-footed" lizard, the gecko which makes a mournful wail. The LXX. translate it by a word meaning "shrew-mouse," of which there are three species in Palestine. The Rabbinical writers regard it as the hedgehog. The translation of the Revised Version is to be preferred.