ETYM Contr. from the Abenaki (American Indian) seganku.
North American mammal of the weasel family. The common skunk Mephitis mephitis has a long, arched body, short legs, a bushy tail, and black fur with white streaks on the back. In self-defense, it discharges a foul-smelling fluid.
American musteline mammal typically ejecting an intensely malodorous fluid when startled; in some classifications put in a separate subfamily Mephitinae; SYN. polecat, wood pussy.