possum
noun
pos·sum
| \ ˈpä-səm
\
\
Definition of possum
1
: opossum sense 1
Well into the twentieth century in the rural South, a possum hunt remained a favorite cold-weather sport …— Evan Jones
2
: any of various small to medium-sized, nocturnal, chiefly arboreal marsupial mammals (especially families Phalangeridae, Pseudocheiridae, and Petauridae) of Australia and New Guinea that have thick, soft fur, a prehensile tail, and a rounded head with protruding eyes and that are mainly herbivorous
A member of Australia's rich endemic possum population, it is named for its lemur-like eyes.— Jo Chandler
Note: Possums have a head and body ranging in length from 12 1/2 to 25 1/2 inches (320 to 655 mm) with a tail nearly as long.
— see also cuscus, phalangerExamples of possum in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Pick ripe fruits and vegetables to eat, to preserve, to freeze and to keep scavenging rats, possums and other critters from treating your garden as their favorite fast-food joint. — Nan Sterman, San Diego Union-Tribune, "September gardening: 22 things to do this month," 5 Sep. 2019 The rest of Gatorland’s critters, like Burmese pythons and possums, go to a safe place - the administrative offices. — Gabrielle Russon, orlandosentinel.com, "Hurricane Dorian: Disney, Universal, other parks are watching storm, but no closings yet," 29 Aug. 2019 The border capos go by handles such Tlachuache, or possum. — Los Angeles Times, "Coyotes earn a living smuggling migrants to the U.S. Not right now, one says," 16 Aug. 2019 What all this means is that coyotes, foxes, raccoons, possums and other predators have settled into city life and won’t be leaving anytime soon. — Lorraine Boissoneault, Smithsonian, "Foxes and Coyotes are Natural Enemies. Or Are They?," 9 Mar. 2018 Featherdale prides itself on being interactive and educational: Visitors can touch or feed some of the animals, including snakes, baby crocodiles, koalas, possums and kangaroos. — Washington Post, "Skip Sydney’s typical city zoo for an Australian-animal park where you can touch a koala," 25 July 2019 Summer fruit trees and vegetables growing in parking strips are attracting more raccoons, possums and skunks to city streets. — Janet Eastman, oregonlive.com, "What to do about cougars in the neighborhood, skunks under the house, bats in the attic," 19 July 2019 Then possums fell through her ceiling and into the kitchen, running rampant through the house and devouring her food. — Tony Cook, Indianapolis Star, "Renters lived 'horrible.' Their landlord lived large. The government helped him do it.," 26 June 2019 There has been a steady supply of dogs and cats, possums and raccoons to pick up. — Byron Mccauley, Cincinnati.com, "Meet Danny Jackson, the man who cleans up roadkill from Cincinnati streets," 20 June 2019These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'possum.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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