# fox

Pronunciation: say "FOKS" US /fɑks/, UK /fɒks/

## Noun

1. A small wild animal of the dog family with a pointed snout, upright ears and a long bushy tail, especially the common red fox.
   - Simple: A wild animal like a small dog, with a pointed face, pointed ears and a long, thick tail.
   - _A fox got into the yard last night and raided the chicken coop._
   - _We spotted a red fox trotting along the edge of the field at dawn._
2. A cunning, sly person who is clever at getting what they want.
   - Simple: A clever person who is good at tricking others.
   - _The negotiator was a wily fox who never showed his hand too early._
   - _Everyone underestimated the quiet lawyer, but he was a wily old fox who had planned every move of the deal._
3. Someone with striking good looks, usually a woman. *(slang)*
   - Simple: A person, usually a woman, who is very good-looking.
   - _She looked like a real fox in that silver gown._
   - _He thought the woman across the room was a real fox, but he was too nervous to ask her to dance._
4. The fur or pelt of a fox, especially as used for clothing and trimming.
   - Simple: The soft fur taken from a fox, often used to make warm clothing.
   - _The collar was lined with thick red fox to keep out the cold._
   - _Trappers once sold fox by the bale to city furriers._
8. A small, energetic terrier of the type bred to drive foxes from their burrows; a fox terrier.
   - Simple: A small, lively breed of dog once used to chase foxes from their dens.
   - _His wire fox barked sharply at every passing bicycle._
   - _Best in Show went to a wire fox, a breed that has often won at Westminster._
9. A thinker who draws on many different ideas and experiences without fitting them into one system, as opposed to a hedgehog.
   - Simple: A person who uses many different ideas instead of explaining everything with one big idea.
   - _The essayist was a fox, drawing freely from science, art, and folklore._
   - _Unlike systematizers, foxes weave disparate insights into a loose, pluralistic outlook._
10. A person, typically a woman, with reddish-brown hair. *(slang)*
   - Simple: A person, usually a woman, who has reddish-brown hair.

## Verb

5. Of paper, to become discolored with brownish spots caused by damp or age.
   - Simple: Of paper, to develop brownish spots from age or dampness.
   - _The letters had foxed badly in the damp attic._
   - _Documents fox quickly in humid climates without proper care._
6. To trick, outwit or cheat someone by cunning; also, to act in a sly or crafty way.
   - Simple: To trick or fool someone in a clever way.
   - _The striker foxed the goalkeeper with a quick fake, then calmly scored into the empty net._
   - _A clever player can fox an opponent with a well-timed sacrifice._
7. To leave someone confused or unable to understand.
   - Simple: To confuse someone so they cannot understand something.
   - _The final exam question foxed even the best students._
   - _Complicated tax forms fox many first-time filers._

## Verb

11. To intoxicate someone, or to stupefy them with drink. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: To make someone drunk or dazed with alcohol.

## Noun

12. A sword, so called from the figure of a fox, or perhaps a wolf mistaken for a fox, stamped on the blade. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: A sword, named for the fox mark stamped on its blade.

## Other meanings

- (noun) A radio code a pilot calls out to signal that an air-to-air weapon has been launched.
- (noun) A concealed radio transmitter that competitors attempt to locate, the object of the sport of radio direction finding.
- (noun) A small strand twisted together from several rope yarns, used aboard ship for seizings, mats, sennits, and gaskets.
- (noun) A wedge inserted in the split end of a bolt, which spreads it and makes it hold fast.
- (verb) Of beer or a similar drink, to turn sour during fermentation, or to make it turn sour.
- (verb) To repair boots by fitting new leather to the front of the uppers.
- (noun) The common or gemmeous dragonet (Callionymus lyra), a small, flattened fish that lives on sandy seabeds off European coasts.
- (noun) The fourteenth card of the Lenormand deck, used in cartomancy.

## Origin

'Fox' comes from Middle English 'fox', from Old English 'fox', going back through Proto-Germanic *fuhsaz to Proto-Indo-European *púḱsos ('the tailed one'), possibly from a root *puḱ- meaning 'tail'. It is related to Dutch 'vos', German 'Fuchs', and Icelandic 'fóa'. The philosophical sense comes from Isaiah Berlin's 1953 essay 'The Hedgehog and the Fox', and the military aviation sense from the old spelling alphabet where 'Fox' stood for F, short for 'to fire'.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/fox (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).