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WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2024o•pos•sum /əˈpɑsəm, ˈpɑsəm/USA pronunciation n. [countable], pl. -sums, (esp. when thought of as a group) -sum. - Mammalsa small animal with a long tail, of the eastern U.S., that carries its young in a pouch and is noted for pretending to be dead when it is in danger.
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2024o•pos•sum (ə pos′əm, pos′əm),USA pronunciation n., pl. -sums, (esp. collectively) -sum. - a prehensile-tailed marsupial, Didelphis virginiana, of the eastern U.S., the female having an abdominal pouch in which its young are carried: noted for the habit of feigning death when in danger.
- any of various animals of related genera.
Cf. possum.- Virginia Algonquian (English spelling, spelled) opassom, opussum, aposoum (equivalent. to Proto-Algonquian *wa·p- white + *-aʔθemw- dog)
- 1600–10, American.
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers:: opossum /əˈpɒsəm/ n ( pl -sums, -sum)- any thick-furred marsupial, esp Didelphis marsupialis (common opossum), of the family Didelphidae of S North, Central, and South America, having an elongated snout and a hairless prehensile tail
- Also called (Austral and NZ): possum any of various similar animals, esp the phalanger, Trichosurus vulpecula, of the New Zealand bush
Etymology: 17th Century: from Algonquian aposoum; related to Delaware apässum, literally: white beast |