Skunk Works


Trademark.

engineering, technical, consulting, and advisory services with respect to designing, building, equipping, and testing commercial and military aircraft and related equipment at Lockheed Martin Corporation.

noun

(usually lowercase) Also skunk works, skunk·works [skuhngk-wurks] /ˈskʌŋkˌwɜrks/. Slang. an often secret experimental laboratory or facility for producing innovative products, as in the computer or aerospace field.

Origin of Skunk Works

1943 for def 1, 1965–70 for def 2; after Big Barnsmell's Skonk Works, where the illicit liquor Kickapoo Joy Juice was made, in Al Capp's comic strip Li'l Abner