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Webster 1913 Edition
Possum
Pos′sum
,Noun.
[Shortened from
opossum
.] (Zool.)
An opossum.
[Colloq. U. S.]
To play possum
, To act possum
to feign ignorance, indifference or inattention, with the intent to deceive; to dissemble; – in allusion to the habit of the opossum, which feigns death when attacked or alarmed.