Pole"cat` (?), n. [Probably fr. F. poule hen, and originally, a poultry cat, because it feeds on poultry. See Poultry.] Zool. (a)
A small European carnivore of the Weasel family (Putorius fetidus). Its scent glands secrete a substance of an exceedingly disagreeable odor. Called also fitchet, foulmart, and European ferret.
(b)
The zorilla. The name is also applied to other allied species.
© Webster 1913.