possum

noun

pos·sum ˈpä-səm

: opossum sense 1

Well into the twentieth century in the rural South, a possum hunt remained a favorite cold-weather sport …—

Evan Jones

: any of various small to medium-sized, nocturnal, chiefly arboreal marsupial mammals (especially families Phalangeridae, Pseudocheiridae, and Petauridae) of Australia and New Guinea that have thick, soft fur, a prehensile tail, and a rounded head with protruding eyes and that are mainly herbivorous

A member of Australia's rich endemic possum population, it is named for its lemur-like eyes.—

Jo Chandler

Note: Possums have a head and body ranging in length from 12 1/2 to 25 1/2 inches (320 to 655 mm) with a tail nearly as long.

see cuscus, phalanger

Examples of possum in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web But a few blurry images of a possum did show up (from a Ring floodlight camera mounted up high — hence the blur). —

Jennifer Pattison Tuohy, The Verge, 9 Oct. 2024 Beetlejuice 1 had an exciting, surreal strangeness, thanks to the originality of Burton’s perverse Gothic humor and the unsettling performance by a manic, growling Michael Keaton, made up to look something like a dead possum in prison stripes. —

Tom Gliatto, Peoplemag, 5 Sep. 2024 The three common exotic rat species, along with ferrets and possums, are targets of the effort, which could benefit native frogs, bats, and birds. —

Byelizabeth Pennisi, science.org, 19 Sep. 2024 While possums and opossums are both omnivorous scavengers, Australian possums (Phalangeridae) are smaller animals with bushy tails and rounded noses. —

Lauren Landers, Better Homes & Gardens, 7 Sep. 2024 See all Example Sentences for possum

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'possum.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.