Emily Dickinson Lexicon

POLE-CAT, n. [Fr. poule, a hen, and chat, a cat, i. e. hen-cat, because it feeds on poultry, eggs, &c.]

The popular name of two digitigrade carnivorous mammals, the Putorius vulgaris, and the Putorius alpinus. These are small quadrupeds of Europe, nearly allied to the weasel. They have small glands secreting a fetid liquor somewhat like that of the American skunk. The fitchew or fitchet.