Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Skunk \Skunk\, n. [Contr. from the Abenaki (American Indian)
   seganku.] (Zo["o]l.)
   Any one of several species of American musteline carnivores
   of the genus {Mephitis} and allied genera. They have two
   glands near the anus, secreting an extremely fetid liquid,
   which the animal ejects at pleasure as a means of defense.

   Note: The common species of the Eastern United States
         ({Mephitis mephitica}) is black with more or less white
         on the body and tail. The spotted skunk ({Spilogale
         putorius}), native of the Southwestern United States
         and Mexico, is smaller than the common skunk, and is
         variously marked with black and white.

   {Skunk bird}, {Skunk blackbird} (Zo["o]l.), the bobolink; --
      so called because the male, in the breeding season, is
      black and white, like a skunk.

   {Skunk cabbage} (Bot.), an American aroid herb ({Symplocarpus
      f[oe]tidus}>) having a reddish hornlike spathe in earliest
      spring, followed by a cluster of large cabbagelike leaves.
      It exhales a disagreeable odor. Also called {swamp
      cabbage}.

   {Skunk porpoise}. (Zo["o]l.) See under {Porpoise}.