possum

[pos-uh m] /ˈpɒs əm/
noun
1.
opossum.
2.
Australian. any of various phalangers, especially of the genus Trichosurus.
Idioms
3.
play possum, Informal.
  1. to feign sleep or death.
  2. to dissemble or pretend ignorance:
    The baseball broke the window, but the children played possum when asked who had thrown it.
Origin
1605-15, Americanism; short for opossum
Examples from the web for possum
  • We have neighbors with dogs, and a possum that sits on the fence in the evening, so our dogs do bark.
  • One of them dies, and the other survives by playing possum using his friend's blood as a disguise.
  • The inquest was perfunctory, as if a possum had been washed ashore.
  • Then a possum decided to make my compost pile his nightly hangout.
British Dictionary definitions for possum

possum

/ˈpɒsəm/
noun
1.
an informal name for opossum (sense 1)
2.
(Austral & NZ) 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
3.
play possum, to pretend to be dead, ignorant, asleep, etc, in order to deceive an opponent
Word Origin and History for possum
n.

1610s, shortened form of opossum. Phrase play possum is first recorded 1822.

Idioms and Phrases with possum

possum

see: play possum