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The word for today is…
ferret (noun, verb, noun):
noun
1: a domesticated usually albino, brownish, or silver-gray animal (Mustela putorius furo) that is descended from the European polecat
2: an active and persistent searcher
intransitive verb
1: to hunt with ferrets
2: to search about
transitive verb
1a(1): to hunt (animals, such as rabbits) with ferrets
(2): to force out of hiding : flush
b: to find and bring to light by searching
2: harry, worry
noun
: a narrow cotton, silk, or wool tape (also called ferreting)
Source : Merriam -Webster
Etymology : Since the 14th century, English speakers have used ferret as the name of a small, slinky, domesticated mammal of the weasel family. The word came to us by way of Anglo-French and can be traced back to the Latin word fur, meaning “thief.” These days ferrets are often kept as pets, but previously they were used to hunt rabbits, rats, and other vermin, and to drive them from their underground burrows. By the 15th century, the verb ferret was being used for the action of hunting with ferrets. By the late 16th century, the verb had taken on figurative uses as well. Today, we most frequently encounter the verb ferret in the sense of “to find and bring to light by searching.”
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