skunked
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English[edit]
Pronunciation[edit]
Audio (AU) (file)
Verb[edit]
skunked
- simple past and past participle of skunk
Adjective[edit]
skunked (comparative more skunked, superlative most skunked)
- (slang) Intoxicated by alcohol or recreational drugs.
- (slang) Having caught no fish at all when on a fishing trip.
- (slang) Having seen no birds at all when on a birding trip.
- 2003, Kenn Kaufman, City Birding: True Tales of Birds and Birdwatching in Unexpected Places, page 47:
- It no longer mattered that I had been skunked in the marsh. I had prevailed on the ponds.
- (of beer) Ruined by poor storage or exposure to light.
- We found some skunked beer in the abandoned cabin, but it was not worth drinking.
- (of a word or phrase) Transitioning to a new meaning or usage and potentially controversial.
- 2000, Bryan A. Garner, “skunked terms”, in The Oxford Dictionary of American Usage and Style, page 306:
- A word is most hotly disputed in the middle part of this process: any use of it is likely to distract some readers. The new use seems illiterate to Group 1; the old use seems odd to Group 2. The word has become “skunked.”