"weasel out" meaning in English

See weasel out in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Verb

Audio: En-au-weasel out.ogg Forms: weasels out [present, singular, third-person], weaseling out [participle, present], weaselling out [participle, present], weaseled out [participle, past], weaseled out [past], weaselled out [participle, past], weaselled out [past]
Head templates: {{en-verb|*|past2=weaselled out|pres_ptc2=weaselling out}} weasel out (third-person singular simple present weasels out, present participle weaseling out or weaselling out, simple past and past participle weaseled out or weaselled out)
  1. (idiomatic, intransitive, often followed by of) To shirk, avoid, or fail to fulfill (a task, responsibility, etc.) Tags: idiomatic, intransitive, often Synonyms: cop out Translations (to weasel something out of someone): huiputtaa (Finnish), kieroilla (Finnish), wić się jak piskorz [imperfective] (Polish), отверте́ться (otvertétʹsja) [perfective] (Russian), esquivar (Spanish), eludir (Spanish), vaguear (Spanish)
    Sense id: en-weasel_out-en-verb-4~ogFZuy Disambiguation of 'to weasel something out of someone': 56 44
  2. (idiomatic, transitive) To obtain or extract, especially by cunning methods. Tags: idiomatic, transitive Synonyms: dig up, ferret out, sniff out
    Sense id: en-weasel_out-en-verb-~Mc4MkLt Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, English phrasal verbs formed with "out", Entries with translation boxes, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries, Terms with Finnish translations, Terms with Polish translations, Terms with Russian translations, Terms with Spanish translations Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 25 75 Disambiguation of English phrasal verbs formed with "out": 20 80 Disambiguation of Entries with translation boxes: 14 86 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 22 78 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 11 89 Disambiguation of Terms with Finnish translations: 31 69 Disambiguation of Terms with Polish translations: 31 69 Disambiguation of Terms with Russian translations: 13 87 Disambiguation of Terms with Spanish translations: 14 86
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Translations (to weasel out of doing something): lusmuilla (Finnish), kiemurrella (Finnish), wykręcić się [perfective] (Polish), wykręcać się [imperfective] (Polish), wić się jak piskorz [imperfective] (Polish), уви́ливать (uvílivatʹ) [imperfective] (Russian), увильну́ть (uvilʹnútʹ) [perfective] (Russian), esquivar (Spanish), eludir (Spanish)
Disambiguation of 'to weasel out of doing something': 55 45

Inflected forms

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "weasels out",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "weaseling out",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "weaselling out",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "weaseled out",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "weaseled out",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "weaselled out",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "weaselled out",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "*",
        "past2": "weaselled out",
        "pres_ptc2": "weaselling out"
      },
      "expansion": "weasel out (third-person singular simple present weasels out, present participle weaseling out or weaselling out, simple past and past participle weaseled out or weaselled out)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "Coordinate term: pass the buck"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1990 December 24, “Table of Contents: Is Uncle Sam Being Suckered?”, in Time:",
          "text": "With the costs of Desert Shield likely to double, Congress fumes at those allies who seem to be weaseling out of their pledges to help.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2009 September 10, “Obama's Big Test”, in Newsweek, retrieved 2011-05-16:",
          "text": "And if they try to weasel out that way, Obama is warning them that he'll \"call them out.\"",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To shirk, avoid, or fail to fulfill (a task, responsibility, etc.)"
      ],
      "id": "en-weasel_out-en-verb-4~ogFZuy",
      "links": [
        [
          "of",
          "of#English"
        ],
        [
          "shirk",
          "shirk"
        ],
        [
          "avoid",
          "avoid"
        ],
        [
          "fail",
          "fail"
        ],
        [
          "fulfill",
          "fulfill"
        ],
        [
          "task",
          "task"
        ],
        [
          "responsibility",
          "responsibility"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic, intransitive, often followed by of) To shirk, avoid, or fail to fulfill (a task, responsibility, etc.)"
      ],
      "raw_tags": [
        "followed by of"
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "cop out"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic",
        "intransitive",
        "often"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "56 44",
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "to weasel something out of someone",
          "word": "huiputtaa"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "56 44",
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "to weasel something out of someone",
          "word": "kieroilla"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "56 44",
          "code": "pl",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "sense": "to weasel something out of someone",
          "tags": [
            "imperfective"
          ],
          "word": "wić się jak piskorz"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "56 44",
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "otvertétʹsja",
          "sense": "to weasel something out of someone",
          "tags": [
            "perfective"
          ],
          "word": "отверте́ться"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "56 44",
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "to weasel something out of someone",
          "word": "esquivar"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "56 44",
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "to weasel something out of someone",
          "word": "eludir"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "56 44",
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "to weasel something out of someone",
          "word": "vaguear"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "25 75",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "20 80",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English phrasal verbs formed with \"out\"",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "14 86",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Entries with translation boxes",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "22 78",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "11 89",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "31 69",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Finnish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "31 69",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Polish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "13 87",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Russian translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "14 86",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Spanish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1992 28 Sept., Stanley Reed, \"Regarding Henry, Warily\" (Book review of Kissinger by Walter Isaacson), Businessweek (retrieved 16 May 2011)",
          "text": "In an effort to ingratiate himself with the 1968 Nixon campaign, Kissinger offered inside tips that he had weaseled out of friends privy to the Johnson Administration's talks with the North Vietnamese."
        },
        {
          "ref": "1993 April 10, Steve McKerrow, “Movie shows cheerleader case getting too much media rah-rah”, in Baltimore Sun, page 1D:",
          "text": "[S]ome of the characters we see among the blitzing media—a Houston TV reporter, an \"Inside Edition\" researcher and this film's producer and writer, James Manos Jr. and Jane Anderson—play themselves, each trying to weasel out the real inside story.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To obtain or extract, especially by cunning methods."
      ],
      "id": "en-weasel_out-en-verb-~Mc4MkLt",
      "links": [
        [
          "obtain",
          "obtain"
        ],
        [
          "extract",
          "extract"
        ],
        [
          "cunning",
          "cunning"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic, transitive) To obtain or extract, especially by cunning methods."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "dig up"
        },
        {
          "word": "ferret out"
        },
        {
          "word": "sniff out"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic",
        "transitive"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "En-au-weasel out.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/2/27/En-au-weasel_out.ogg/En-au-weasel_out.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/27/En-au-weasel_out.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "_dis1": "55 45",
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "to weasel out of doing something",
      "word": "lusmuilla"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "55 45",
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "to weasel out of doing something",
      "word": "kiemurrella"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "55 45",
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "to weasel out of doing something",
      "tags": [
        "perfective"
      ],
      "word": "wykręcić się"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "55 45",
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "to weasel out of doing something",
      "tags": [
        "imperfective"
      ],
      "word": "wykręcać się"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "55 45",
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "to weasel out of doing something",
      "tags": [
        "imperfective"
      ],
      "word": "wić się jak piskorz"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "55 45",
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "uvílivatʹ",
      "sense": "to weasel out of doing something",
      "tags": [
        "imperfective"
      ],
      "word": "уви́ливать"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "55 45",
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "uvilʹnútʹ",
      "sense": "to weasel out of doing something",
      "tags": [
        "perfective"
      ],
      "word": "увильну́ть"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "55 45",
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "to weasel out of doing something",
      "word": "esquivar"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "55 45",
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "to weasel out of doing something",
      "word": "eludir"
    }
  ],
  "word": "weasel out"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English multiword terms",
    "English phrasal verbs",
    "English phrasal verbs formed with \"out\"",
    "English verbs",
    "Entries with translation boxes",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries",
    "Terms with Finnish translations",
    "Terms with Polish translations",
    "Terms with Russian translations",
    "Terms with Spanish translations"
  ],
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "weasels out",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "weaseling out",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "weaselling out",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "weaseled out",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "weaseled out",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "weaselled out",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "weaselled out",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "*",
        "past2": "weaselled out",
        "pres_ptc2": "weaselling out"
      },
      "expansion": "weasel out (third-person singular simple present weasels out, present participle weaseling out or weaselling out, simple past and past participle weaseled out or weaselled out)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English idioms",
        "English intransitive verbs",
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "Coordinate term: pass the buck"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1990 December 24, “Table of Contents: Is Uncle Sam Being Suckered?”, in Time:",
          "text": "With the costs of Desert Shield likely to double, Congress fumes at those allies who seem to be weaseling out of their pledges to help.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2009 September 10, “Obama's Big Test”, in Newsweek, retrieved 2011-05-16:",
          "text": "And if they try to weasel out that way, Obama is warning them that he'll \"call them out.\"",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To shirk, avoid, or fail to fulfill (a task, responsibility, etc.)"
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "of",
          "of#English"
        ],
        [
          "shirk",
          "shirk"
        ],
        [
          "avoid",
          "avoid"
        ],
        [
          "fail",
          "fail"
        ],
        [
          "fulfill",
          "fulfill"
        ],
        [
          "task",
          "task"
        ],
        [
          "responsibility",
          "responsibility"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic, intransitive, often followed by of) To shirk, avoid, or fail to fulfill (a task, responsibility, etc.)"
      ],
      "raw_tags": [
        "followed by of"
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "cop out"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic",
        "intransitive",
        "often"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English idioms",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English transitive verbs"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1992 28 Sept., Stanley Reed, \"Regarding Henry, Warily\" (Book review of Kissinger by Walter Isaacson), Businessweek (retrieved 16 May 2011)",
          "text": "In an effort to ingratiate himself with the 1968 Nixon campaign, Kissinger offered inside tips that he had weaseled out of friends privy to the Johnson Administration's talks with the North Vietnamese."
        },
        {
          "ref": "1993 April 10, Steve McKerrow, “Movie shows cheerleader case getting too much media rah-rah”, in Baltimore Sun, page 1D:",
          "text": "[S]ome of the characters we see among the blitzing media—a Houston TV reporter, an \"Inside Edition\" researcher and this film's producer and writer, James Manos Jr. and Jane Anderson—play themselves, each trying to weasel out the real inside story.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To obtain or extract, especially by cunning methods."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "obtain",
          "obtain"
        ],
        [
          "extract",
          "extract"
        ],
        [
          "cunning",
          "cunning"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic, transitive) To obtain or extract, especially by cunning methods."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "dig up"
        },
        {
          "word": "ferret out"
        },
        {
          "word": "sniff out"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic",
        "transitive"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "En-au-weasel out.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/2/27/En-au-weasel_out.ogg/En-au-weasel_out.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/27/En-au-weasel_out.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "to weasel out of doing something",
      "word": "lusmuilla"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "to weasel out of doing something",
      "word": "kiemurrella"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "to weasel out of doing something",
      "tags": [
        "perfective"
      ],
      "word": "wykręcić się"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "to weasel out of doing something",
      "tags": [
        "imperfective"
      ],
      "word": "wykręcać się"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "to weasel out of doing something",
      "tags": [
        "imperfective"
      ],
      "word": "wić się jak piskorz"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "uvílivatʹ",
      "sense": "to weasel out of doing something",
      "tags": [
        "imperfective"
      ],
      "word": "уви́ливать"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "uvilʹnútʹ",
      "sense": "to weasel out of doing something",
      "tags": [
        "perfective"
      ],
      "word": "увильну́ть"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "to weasel out of doing something",
      "word": "esquivar"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "to weasel out of doing something",
      "word": "eludir"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "to weasel something out of someone",
      "word": "huiputtaa"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "to weasel something out of someone",
      "word": "kieroilla"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "to weasel something out of someone",
      "tags": [
        "imperfective"
      ],
      "word": "wić się jak piskorz"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "otvertétʹsja",
      "sense": "to weasel something out of someone",
      "tags": [
        "perfective"
      ],
      "word": "отверте́ться"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "to weasel something out of someone",
      "word": "esquivar"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "to weasel something out of someone",
      "word": "eludir"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "to weasel something out of someone",
      "word": "vaguear"
    }
  ],
  "word": "weasel out"
}

Download raw JSONL data for weasel out meaning in English (5.7kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-12-21 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-12-04 using wiktextract (d8cb2f3 and 4e554ae). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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