From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishopossumo‧pos‧sum /əˈpɒsəm $ -ˈpɑː-, ˈpɑːsəm/ (also possum) noun [countable] HBAone of various small animals from America and Australia that have fur and climb trees
Examples from the Corpus
opossum• I have eaten boiled opossum, perhaps the biggest challenge of my life.• We had rabbit and squirrel, too, anything but opossum.• This study showed that the opossum does not experience some kind of fit or paralytic unconsciousness.• More than half will be birds; the rest will be the four-legged variety, ranging from rabbits to opossums.Origin opossum (1600-1700) Virginia Algonquian opassom, from op “white” + assom “dog” 