subs. (American).—1. A mean, paltry wretch; a STINKARD (q.v.).
1841. W. G. SIMMS, The Kinsmen, xiv. He’s a SKUNK, a bad chap about the heart.
1876. BRET HARTE, Gabriel Conroy, I. i. 14. Ain’t my husband dead, and isn’t that SKUNK—an entire stranger—still livin’?
1884. Referee, 1 June, 7, 3. The bloodthirsty and cowardly SKUNKS, who rob servant girls in America of their money in order to blow servant girls in London to pieces.
2. (American).—Utter defeat: as verb. = to disgrace: cf. SLAM.
1848. DURIVAGE, Stray Subjects, 135. In the second hand of the third game, I made high, low, game, and ‘SKUNKED’ him, outright, again.
Verb. 2. (American university).—To neglect to pay.
