possum

[ pos-uhm ]

noun

1. opossum.
2. Australian. any of various phalangers, especially of the genus Trichosurus.

possum

/ ˈpɒsəm /

noun

1. an informal name for opossum
2. Also calledphalanger any of various Australasian arboreal marsupials, such as Trichosurus vulpecula ( brush-tailed phalanger ), having dense fur and a long tail: family Phalangeridae
3. play possum
   to pretend to be dead, ignorant, asleep, etc, in order to deceive an opponent

Word History and Origins

Origin of possum¹

1605–15, Americanism; short for opossum

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. play possum, Informal.
   1. to feign sleep or death.
   2. to dissemble or pretend ignorance:

      The baseball broke the window, but the children played possum when asked who had thrown it.

More idioms and phrases containing possum

see play possum .

Example Sentences

In “Wild Robot,” mannerisms and gestures feel organic, whether by a possum or, ironically, a robot.

From Los Angeles Times

“It’s just a postage-stamp suburban yard, but there’s a lot going on here,” Ransdell said of the yard’s abundant wildlife, which counts rabbits, skunks, raccoons and possums as visitors.

From Los Angeles Times

“It’s just a postage stamp suburban yard, but there’s a lot going on here,” Ransdell said of the yard’s abundant wildlife, which counts rabbits, skunks, raccoons and possums as visitors.

From Los Angeles Times

In turn, Splash Mountain had plenty of details — possums, bees, turtles, owls and more, many of them caught in mischief — to entice us.

From Los Angeles Times

"There's no country that I think I know of where they've eliminated TB in cattle without eliminating it in possums or badgers or the equivalent wildlife".

From BBC

What Is The Plural Of Possum?

Plural word for possum

The plural form of possum is possums. The plurals of several other singular words that end in -um are also formed in this way, including museum/museums and drum/drums.

Possum is pluralized in the regular, or standard, way of adding an -s to the end of the word.

In some nouns that end in -um that are derived from Latin, the irregular plural ending -a may be used instead, as in memorandum/memoranda and curriculum/curricula. These nouns are considered irregular nouns. 

However, the -a ending isn’t valid for possum, because the word derives from the Virginia Algonquian term (with English spelling) opussum. Possa would be an invalid plural for possum.