means A small, slender carnivorous mammal of the genus Mustela, known for its elongated body, ferocious hunting, and slippery cunning — hence to 'weasel out' of something.

from From Old English 'weosule' or 'wesle,' descending from a Proto-Germanic root (compare German 'Wiesel' and Dutch 'wezel'). The deeper origin is murky, but some link it to a root meaning 'foul' or 'stinking' — a nod to the musky scent these animals share with their stoat and polecat cousins. The 'shifty liar' sense is much younger, an American coinage that took the animal's reputation for sucking eggs cleanly through tiny holes and turned it into a metaphor for sneaky evasion.