Any one of various species of small carnivores belonging to the genus Putorius, as the ermine and ferret. They have a slender, elongated body, and are noted for the quickness of their movements and for their bloodthirsty habit in destroying poultry, rats, etc. The ermine and some other species are brown in summer, and turn white in winter; others are brown at all seasons.

small carnivorous mammal with short legs and elongated body and neck

a ferret with seniority

Any of the many small carnivorous members of the family Mustelidæ. Represented in the North Country by 9 species in 6 genera. Includes weasels, otter, skunk, and wolverine. Weasel is jingoss in the Ojibwe.

Weasels are mammals in the genus Mustela of the Mustelidae family. Originally, the name "weasel" was applied to one species of the genus, the European form of the Least Weasel (Mustela nivalis). Early literary references to weasels, for example their common appearances in fables, refer to this species rather than to the genus as a whole, reflecting what is still the common usage in Britain.