long-tailed weasel
- noun
- /lɔŋ-teɪld ˈwiːzəl/
- US
:
comadreja de cola larga
- The long-tailed weasel is known for its slender body and distinctive black-tipped tail as it navigates through tall grass.
Examples
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PHOTO: An alert long-tailed weasel momentarily pauses during its afternoon rodent hunt near the edge of Loon Lake, Wyoming.
Academic text (1991) -
In 1987, Canadian naturalist Alton S. Harestad observed a long-tailed weasel being mobbed by two ground squirrels when it attempted to attack a third.
Academic text (1991) -
PHOTO: Having just captured a long-tailed weasel, a great horned owl prepares to feast atop its perch.
Academic text (1991) -
While wandering through the woods, I spotted a long-tailed weasel swiftly darting across the trail in search of food.
-
During the summer, a long-tailed weasel can often be seen hunting for small rodents in fields or wooded areas.
Synonyms
A small wild animal with a long body and a black-tipped tail that eats rats and mice
A long American weasel with a tail that has a black tip
Surface Forms
Morphology
long-tailed + weasel
The meaning — a weasel that has a relatively long tail — is directly compositional from the adjective 'long-tailed' (long + tailed) modifying 'weasel'. This straightforward physical-description pattern (adjective + noun) is cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows the constituent words will readily infer the meaning.
Etymology
The noun long-tailed weasel comes from how it looks: a weasel with a very long tail that often has a black tip. So, the name 'refers to' this animal and helps you recognise it in the wild.
