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Definition of virginia opossum

virginia opossum

Plural:virginia opossums
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• noun

1

North American A nocturnal, solitary marsupial native to North and Central America, characterized by its prehensile tail, white face, and well-known defensive mechanism of feigning death when threatened.

Example

"The Virginia opossum is the only marsupial found north of Mexico and plays a vital ecological role by consuming large quantities of ticks."

Photo by Cody Pope / CC BY-SA 2.5
Synonyms
View all synonyms for virginia opossum

Word Nuance & Usage

Often colloquially referred to simply as a 'possum' in North America, though true possums belong to a distinctly different order of marsupials native to Australia and New Guinea.

• Nearby Words

virginia bluebell
virginia bluebells
virginia falls
virginia opossum
virginity
virgo
virile

Usage Trend

Historical frequency of usage in published text.

180019102020
Data source: Google Books Ngram Viewer

Cite this Entry

Wordmom. (2026). Definition of Virginia opossum. In Wordmom Dictionary. Retrieved Nov 5, 2026, from https://wordmom.com/dictionary/virginia-opossum
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