See Also: Opossum(medicine)
opossum(dictionary)
opossum(encyclopedia)
opossum(dictionary)
opossum encephalitis(medicine)
water opossum(medicine)

opossum (iou)



opossum noun. E17.
[Virginia Algonquian opassom, from op white + assom dog, doglike animal. Cf. POSSUM.]
Any of various small or medium-sized marsupial mammals, mostly arboreal, of the mainly neotropical family Didelphidae, which have an opposable thumb on the hind foot and a usu. prehensile and hairless tail; esp. (more fully Virginian opossum) the common N. American species, Didelphis virginiana, which is the size of a cat. E17.
mouse opossum, vulpine opossum, etc.
= POSSUM noun 2. L18.
Comb.: opossum-shrimp a shrimp of the genus Mysis or the family Mysidae, so called from the brood-pouch in which the female carries her eggs; opossum wood (the wood of) an Australian timber tree, Quintinia sieberi.
opossuming noun (rare) the hunting of opossums M19.