Ferret

a relative of the weasel, now known only as a domesticated animal. It is about fourteen inches long. It is of a whitish or yellowish color, with red or pink weasel-like eyes. It is bred in confinement, both in this country and in Europe. It has an exceedingly slender, lithe body, and is used to rid houses of mice and rats. English poachers and gamekeepers use the ferret to drive rabbits out of their underground warrens, a bag being held over the entrance to catch the rabbits as they come popping out. As a verb, the term, ferret, is used to denote a sly, furtive method of detecting crime or drawing out a secret.