weasel out

wea·sel out

W w

Transcription

- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
- [wee-zuh l out]
- /ˈwi zəl aʊt/

- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
- [wee-zuh l out]
- /ˈwi zəl aʊt/

Definitions of weasel out words

noun plural weasel out any small carnivore of the genus Mustela, of the family Mustelidae, having a long, slender body and feeding chiefly on small rodents. 1
noun plural weasel out any of various similar animals of the family Mustelidae. 1
noun plural weasel out a cunning, sneaky person. 1
noun plural weasel out a tracked vehicle resembling a tractor, used in snow. 1
noun plural weasel out Slang. an informer; stool pigeon. 1
verb without object weasel out to evade an obligation, duty, or the like; renege (often followed by out): That's one invitation I'd like to weasel out of. 1

See all 10 definitions of weasel out

Information block about the term

Origin of weasel out

First appearance:

before 900

One of the 4% oldest English words

before 900; 1920-25 for def 6; Middle English wesele, Old English wesle, weosule; cognate with Old High German wisula, German Wiesel

Historical Comparancy

Parts of speech for Weasel out

noun

adjective

verb

adverb

pronoun

preposition

conjunction

determiner

exclamation

Full grammatical hierarchy of Weasel out

weasel out popularity

A common word. It’s meaning is known to most children of preschool age. About 88% of English native speakers know the meaning and use the word.

Most Europeans know this English word. The frequency of it’s usage is somewhere between "mom" and "screwdriver".

weasel out usage trend in Literature

This diagram is provided by Google Ngram Viewer

Synonyms for weasel out

verb weasel out

back out — If you back out, you decide not to do something that you previously agreed to do.
backwater — A backwater is a place that is isolated.
beg off — to ask to be released from an engagement, obligation, etc
blow off — If you blow something off, you ignore it or choose not to deal with it.

All 21 Synonyms of weasel out