ferret: [14] A ferret is, from an etymological point of view, a ‘thieving animal’. The word comes via Old French fuiret or furet from Vulgar Latin *fūrittus, literally ‘little thief’. This was a derivative of Latin fūr ‘thief’, which is related to English furtive. The verbal senses ‘search about’ and ‘search out’ developed in the 16th century. => furtive
ferret (v.)
early 15c., "hunt with a ferret," from ferret (n.) or from Old French verb fureter, in reference to the use of half-tame ferrets to kill rats and flush rabbits from burrows. The extended sense of "search out, discover," especially by perseverence and cunning, usually with out (adv.), is from 1570s. Related: Ferreted; ferreting.
ferret (n.)
late 14c., from Old French furet "ferret," diminutive of fuiron "weasel, ferret," literally "thief" (in allusion to the animal's slyness and craftiness), probably from Late Latin furionem (related to furonem "cat," which also meant "robber"), from Latin fur (genitive furis) "thief," probably from PIE *bhor- (which likely also is the source of furtive), from root *bher- (1) "to carry" (see infer). Also from the French word are Dutch fret, German Frett. Ferret-faced is from 1837 (to have ferret-eyes is from 1580s).
实用例句
1. I leave it to the reader to ferret these out.
我留给读者去发现这些。
来自柯林斯例句
2. The team is trying to ferret out missing details.
该队正在试图找到遗失的细节。
来自柯林斯例句
3. She's determined to ferret out the truth.
她决心查明真相.
来自《简明英汉词典》
4. The police failed to ferret out the truth.
警察未能查明真相.
来自《简明英汉词典》
5. She nonetheless continued to ferret about for possible jobs.
