1. Small furry Australian arboreal marsupials having long, usually prehensile tails
   "The sugar glider is a well-known type of possum";
   - phalanger, opossum [Austral, NZ]
    
2. [N. Amer] Nocturnal arboreal marsupial having a naked prehensile tail found from southern North America to northern South America
   "The possum played dead when it sensed danger";
   - opossum

Derived forms: possums

Type of: marsupial, pouched mammal

Part of: Didelphidae, family Didelphidae, family Phalangeridae, Phalangeridae

Encyclopedia: Possum