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possum
[pos-uhm]
possum
/ ˈɒə /
noun
an informal name for opossum
Also called: phalanger.any of various Australasian arboreal marsupials, such as Trichosurus vulpecula ( brush-tailed phalanger ), having dense fur and a long tail: family Phalangeridae
to pretend to be dead, ignorant, asleep, etc, in order to deceive an opponent
Idioms and Phrases
play possum,
to feign sleep or death.
to dissemble or pretend ignorance.
The baseball broke the window, but the children played possum when asked who had thrown it.
Example Sentences
And yet, we were flooded with Democratic operatives like James Carville, who openly use the phrase “playing possum” when describing how the party should respond.
On the back patio, he said the man used a statue to kill a possum and found bags containing what he suspects were drugs.
No wonder Craig feels more like a bunch of possums in a skin suit.
Affectionately dubbed Putricia, it will release a smell described as "wet socks, hot cat food, or rotting possum flesh".
I guess you could say, she and I are both feeling extra grateful this year and will be happier than a possum up a pant leg on Christmas Eve.
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When To Use
The plural form of possum is possums. The plurals of several other singular words that end in -um are also formed in this way, including museum/museums and drum/drums.Possum is pluralized in the regular, or standard, way of adding an -s to the end of the word.In some nouns that end in -um that are derived from Latin, the irregular plural ending -a may be used instead, as in memorandum/memoranda and curriculum/curricula. These nouns are considered irregular nouns. However, the -a ending isn’t valid for possum, because the word derives from the Virginia Algonquian term (with English spelling) opussum. Possa would be an invalid plural for possum.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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