1. Dark brown mustelid of woodlands of Eurasia that gives off an unpleasant odour when threatened
   "The fitch, also known as the European polecat, is the wild ancestor of the domesticated ferret";
   - fitch [archaic], foulmart [archaic], foumart [archaic], Mustela putorius, fitchew [archaic]
    
2. [N. Amer] American musteline mammal typically ejecting an intensely malodorous fluid when startled; in some classifications put in a separate subfamily Mephitinae
   "The campers quickly learned to avoid startling the wood pussy, also known as a polecat";
   - skunk, wood pussy [N. Amer]

Derived forms: polecats

Type of: mustelid, musteline, musteline mammal

Part of: genus Mustela, Mustela

Encyclopedia: Polecat, Tennessee