to ferret
1
7.5
- verb
- /ˈfɛrɪt/
- Archaic
:
cazar con hurones
- In the cases, both of which originate in Florida, the court is determining whether dogs can be used to ferret out drugs inside a private residence and what credentials are necessary to prove that a drug dog is properly trained.
Examples
-
Using trained ferrets, the hunters were able to ferret out the hidden rabbits quickly.
-
And indeed, at one point, a dog, half in play and half in the exercise of more serious hunting instincts, ferreted him out of a concealed crouch and pursued him quite a long way through the undergrowth before its owner whistled the dog back.
Fiction book (2000) -
Having ferreted about in some straw, he can now eat a raw egg.
Fiction book (2000) -
Blade ferrets their rat-holes out, I map them.
Fiction book (1998) -
And he got talking to Willy when he came to cut the grass this week, and Willy invited him to go ferreting.
Fiction book (1990) -
"He's out ferreting with Willy Shoddy." "Oh, Vi."
Fiction book (1990) -
His meal finished, he ferreted a bar of soap wrapped in cheesecloth from his saddlebags and headed toward the creek.
Fiction book (2000) -
He invited his friends to go ferreting for rabbits in the fields this weekend.
-
After preparing, they set off to ferret the small game out of their burrows.
Synonyms
2
8.6
To hunt small furry animals with long ears for sport or food
Phrasal Verbs
Compounds
1
8.9
A small wild animal with black feet and a dark face mask that lives on US prairies
Surface Forms
Etymology
Ferret as a verb began with the animal: hunters used a ferret to drive rabbits out of their burrows, so to ferret once meant to hunt by making animals run out.