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Badger
Badgers are short-legged omnivores in the family Mustelidae, which also includes the otters, polecats, weasels, and wolverines. They belong to the caniform suborder of carnivoran mammals. The 11 species of badgers are grouped in three subfamilies: Melinae (Eurasian badgers), Mellivorinae (the honey badger or ratel), and Taxideinae (the American badger). The Asiatic stink badgers of the genus Mydaus were formerly included within Melinae (and thus Mustelidae), but recent genetic evidence indicates these are actually members of the skunk family, placing them in the taxonomic family Mephitidae.
They include the species in the genera Arctonyx, Meles, Mellivora, Melogale and Taxidea. Badger mandibular condyles connect to long cavities in their skulls, giving resistance to jaw dislocation and increasing their bite grip strength, but in turn limiting jaw movement to hinging open and shut, or sliding from side to side but not the twisting movement possible for the jaws of most mammals.
Badgers have rather short, wide bodies, with short legs for digging. They have elongated, weasel-like heads with small ears. Their tails vary in length depending on species; the stink badger has a very short tail, while the ferret badger’s tail can be 46–51 cm (18–20 in) long, depending on age. They have black faces with distinctive white markings, grey bodies with a light-coloured stripe from head to tail, and dark legs with light-coloured underbellies. They grow to around 90 cm (35 in) in length including tail.
The European badger is one of the largest; the American badger, the hog badger, and the honey badger are generally a little smaller and lighter. Stink badgers are smaller still, and ferret badgers smallest of all. They weigh around 9–11 kg (20–24 lb), with some Eurasian badgers around 18 kg (40 lb).
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Mole (noun)
A pigmented spot on the skin, a naevus, slightly raised, and sometimes hairy.
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Mole (noun)
Any of several small, burrowing insectivores of the family Talpidae.
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Mole (noun)
Any of the burrowing rodents also called mole rats.
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Mole (noun)
An internal spy, a person who involves himself or herself with an enemy organisation, especially an intelligence or governmental organisation, to determine and betray its secrets from within.
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Mole (noun)
A kind of self-propelled excavator used to form underground drains, or to clear underground pipelines
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Mole (noun)
A type of underground drain used in farm fields, in which a mole plow creates an unlined channel through clay subsoil.
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Mole (noun)
A moll, a bitch, a slut.
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Mole (noun)
A massive structure, usually of stone, used as a pier, breakwater or junction between places separated by water.
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Mole (noun)
A haven or harbour, protected with such a breakwater.
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Mole (noun)
An Ancient Roman mausoleum.
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Mole (noun)
In the kg of Avogadro’s number. from 1897
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Mole (noun)
A hemorrhagic mass of tissue in the uterus caused by a dead ovum.
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Mole (noun)
One of several spicy sauces typical of the cuisine of Mexico and neighboring Central America, especially the sauce which contains chocolate and which is used in cooking main dishes, not desserts.
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Badger (noun)
Any mammal of three subfamilies, which belong to the family Mustelidae: Melinae (Eurasian badgers), Mellivorinae (ratel or honey badger), and ver=161103 (American badger).
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Badger (noun)
A native or resident of the American state, Wisconsin.
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Badger (noun)
A brush made of badger hair.
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Badger (noun)
A crew of desperate villains who robbed near rivers, into which they threw the bodies of those they murdered.
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Badger (noun)
An itinerant licensed dealer in commodities used for food; a hawker; a huckster; — formerly applied especially to one who bought grain in one place and sold it in another.
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Badger (verb)
To pester, to annoy persistently.
“He kept badgering her about her bad habits.”
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Badger (verb)
To pass gas; to fart.
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Mole (noun)
a small burrowing mammal with dark velvety fur, a long muzzle, and very small eyes, feeding mainly on worms, grubs, and other invertebrates.
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Mole (noun)
a spy who gradually achieves an important position within the security defences of a country
“a well-placed mole was feeding them the names of operatives”
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Mole (noun)
someone within an organization who anonymously betrays confidential information
“the company is hunting for the mole who revealed details of planned job cuts”
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Mole (noun)
a small, often slightly raised blemish on the skin made dark by a high concentration of melanin
“a mole on her arm had not been there at the beginning of the summer”
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Mole (noun)
a large solid structure on a shore serving as a pier, breakwater, or causeway.
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Mole (noun)
a harbour formed or protected by a mole.
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Mole (noun)
the SI unit of amount of substance, equal to the quantity containing as many elementary units as there are atoms in 0.012 kg of carbon-12.
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Mole (noun)
an abnormal mass of tissue in the uterus.
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Mole (noun)
a highly spiced Mexican sauce made chiefly from chilli peppers and chocolate, served with meat.