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# weasel

noun (a weasel, weasels); verb (weasel, weasels, weaselled/weaseled, weaselling/weaseling)

«weasel» in the English dictionary: everyday and in Jewish tradition — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

1. A weasel is a small, thin, fast wild animal with brown fur and a long body that hunts mice and voles. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/weasel/#m1)
2. (informal, rude) A weasel is a sneaky person who cannot be trusted. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/weasel/#m2)
3. To weasel out of something (informal) is to avoid doing it in a sneaky way. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/weasel/#m3)
4. Weasel words are vague words used to avoid saying something clearly. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/weasel/#m4)

### In the lessons

In nature studies it is a small hunter of the British countryside. In stories, weasels are often sly villains (as in "The Wind in the Willows"). In English lessons, "weasel words" are a trick in adverts and speeches. Phrases: weasel out of, weasel words, sly as a weasel.

### Examples

- A weasel slipped into the hole after a mouse. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/weasel/#x1)
- Don't trust him — he's a real weasel. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/weasel/#x2)
- He tried to weasel out of washing up. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/weasel/#x3)
- "Up to 50% off" uses weasel words. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/weasel/#x4)
- The weasels took over Toad Hall in the story. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/weasel/#x5)
- Weasels are the smallest meat-eating mammals in Britain. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/weasel/#x6)
- Just then a Weasel came by. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/weasel/#x7)

### Note

Countable. UK spelling weaselled, US weaseled. Calling a person a weasel is an insult. Pop Goes the Weasel is a nursery rhyme. Stoats look similar but are bigger with a black tail tip.

## In Jewish tradition

It is listed among the unclean swarming creatures that may not be eaten.

**Interpretation.** It is one of the animals Jewish law marks as forbidden food, and no reason is given in the text.

### Examples

- And these are they which are unclean unto you among the swarming things that swarm upon the earth: the weasel, and the mouse, and the great lizard after its kinds, (Torah LEV.11.29, JPS 1917) [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/W/weasel/#x1)

### Note

Countable. UK spelling weaselled, US weaseled. Calling a person a weasel is an insult. Pop Goes the Weasel is a nursery rhyme. Stoats look similar but are bigger with a black tail tip.

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «weasel» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/W/weasel/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«weasel» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/weasel.html) on Mova free.
- [Trees and pragmatics of «weasel» in the Judaism dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/W/weasel/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«weasel» in the Judaism dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/judaism/w/weasel.html) on Mova free.