Any one of several species of American musteline carnivores of the genus Mephitis and allied genera. They have two glands near the anus, secreting an extremely fetid liquid, which the animal ejects at pleasure as a means of defense.
In games of chance and skill: To defeat (an opponent) (as in cards) so that he fails to gain a point, or (in checkers) to get a king.
What kills a skunk is the publicity it gives itself. Abraham Lincoln
It is sometimes very hard to tell the difference between history and the smell of skunk. Rebecca West
You're making me feel like a skunk at the garden party. Kenneth Starr
Sometimes when you get in a fight with a skunk, you can't tell who started it. Lloyd Doggett
It may be that which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet,' but I should be loath to see a rose on a maiden's breast substituted by a flower, however beautiful and fragrant it might be, that is went by the name of the skunk lily. Alexander Henry
