Adjacent Words

Fox definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

FOX. n.
1. An animal of the genus Canis, with a straight tail, yellowish or straw-colored hair, and erect ears. This animal burrows in the earth, is remarkable for his cunning, and preys on lambs, geese, hens or other small animals.
2. A sly, cunning fellow.
3. In seaman's language, a seizing made by twisting several rope-yarns together.
4. Formerly, a cant expression for a sword.
FOX, v.t. To intoxicate; to stupify. [Not used.]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: alert carnivorous mammal with pointed muzzle and ears and a bushy tail; most are predators that do not hunt in packs
2: a shifty deceptive person [syn: dodger, fox, slyboots]
3: the grey or reddish-brown fur of a fox
4: English statesman who supported American independence and the French Revolution (1749-1806) [syn: Fox, Charles James Fox]
5: English religious leader who founded the Society of Friends (1624-1691) [syn: Fox, George Fox]
6: a member of an Algonquian people formerly living west of Lake Michigan along the Fox River
7: the Algonquian language of the Fox v
1: deceive somebody; "We tricked the teacher into thinking that class would be cancelled next week" [syn: flim-flam, play a joke on, play tricks, trick, fob, fox, pull a fast one on, play a trick on]
2: be confusing or perplexing to; cause to be unable to think clearly; "These questions confuse even the experts"; "This question completely threw me"; "This question befuddled even the teacher" [syn: confuse, throw, fox, befuddle, fuddle, bedevil, confound, discombobulate]
3: become discolored with, or as if with, mildew spots

Merriam Webster's

I. biographical name Charles James 1749-1806 English statesman & orator II. biographical name George 1624-1691 English preacher & founder of Society of Friends III. biographical name Henry 1705-1774 1st Baron Holland British statesman IV. biographical name (Quesada) Vicente 1942- president of Mexico (2000- ) V. geographical name 1. river 220 miles (354 kilometers) SE Wisconsin & NE Illinois flowing S into Illinois River 2. river 175 miles (282 kilometers) E Wisconsin flowing NE & N through Lake Winnebago into Green Bay

Merriam Webster's

I. noun (plural foxes; also fox) Usage: often attributive Etymology: Middle English, from Old English; akin to Old High German fuhs fox and perhaps to Sanskrit puccha tail Date: before 12th century 1. a. any of various carnivorous mammals (especially genus Vulpes) of the dog family related to but smaller than wolves with shorter legs, more pointed muzzle, large erect ears, and long bushy tail b. the fur of a fox 2. a clever crafty person 3. archaic sword 4. capitalized a member of an American Indian people formerly living in what is now Wisconsin 5. a good-looking young woman or man II. transitive verb Date: 1611 1. obsolete intoxicate 2. a. to trick by ingenuity or cunning ; outwit b. baffle <foxed by his behavior>

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. & v. --n. 1 a any of various wild flesh-eating mammals of the dog family, esp. of the genus Vulpes, with a sharp snout, bushy tail, and red or grey fur. b the fur of a fox. 2 a cunning or sly person. 3 US sl. an attractive young woman. --v. 1 a intr. act craftily. b tr. deceive, baffle, trick. 2 tr. (usu. as foxed adj.) discolour (the leaves of a book, engraving, etc.) with brownish marks. Phrases and idioms: fox-terrier 1 a terrier of a short-haired breed originally used for unearthing foxes. 2 this breed. Derivatives: foxing n. (in sense 2 of v.). foxlike adj. Etymology: OE f. WG

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Dragonet Drag"on*et, n. 1. A little dragon. --Spenser. 2. (Zo["o]l.) A small British marine fish (Callionymuslyra); -- called also yellow sculpin, fox, and gowdie.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Fox Fox, n.; pl. Foxes. [AS. fox; akin to D. vos, G. fuchs, OHG. fuhs, foha, Goth. fa['u]h?, Icel. f?a fox, fox fraud; of unknown origin, cf. Skr. puccha tail. Cf. Vixen.] 1. (Zo["o]l.) A carnivorous animal of the genus Vulpes, family Canid[ae], of many species. The European fox (V. vulgaris or V. vulpes), the American red fox (V. fulvus), the American gray fox (V. Virginianus), and the arctic, white, or blue, fox (V. lagopus) are well-known species. Note: The black or silver-gray fox is a variety of the American red fox, producing a fur of great value; the cross-gray and woods-gray foxes are other varieties of the same species, of less value. The common foxes of Europe and America are very similar; both are celebrated for their craftiness. They feed on wild birds, poultry, and various small animals. Subtle as the fox for prey. --Shak. 2. (Zo["o]l.) The European dragonet. 3. (Zo["o]l.) The fox shark or thrasher shark; -- called also sea fox. See Thrasher shark, under Shark. 4. A sly, cunning fellow. [Colloq.] We call a crafty and cruel man a fox. --Beattie. 5. (Naut.) Rope yarn twisted together, and rubbed with tar; -- used for seizings or mats. 6. A sword; -- so called from the stamp of a fox on the blade, or perhaps of a wolf taken for a fox. [Obs.] Thou diest on point of fox. --Shak. 7. pl. (Enthnol.) A tribe of Indians which, with the Sacs, formerly occupied the region about Green Bay, Wisconsin; -- called also Outagamies. Fox and geese. (a) A boy's game, in which one boy tries to catch others as they run one goal to another. (b) A game with sixteen checkers, or some substitute for them, one of which is called the fox, and the rest the geese; the fox, whose first position is in the middle of the board, endeavors to break through the line of the geese, and the geese to pen up the fox. Fox bat (Zo["o]l.), a large fruit bat of the genus Pteropus, of many species, inhabiting Asia, Africa, and the East Indies, esp. P. medius of India. Some of the species are more than four feet across the outspread wings. See Fruit bat. Fox bolt, a bolt having a split end to receive a fox wedge. Fox brush (Zo["o]l.), the tail of a fox. Fox evil, a disease in which the hair falls off; alopecy. Fox grape (Bot.), the name of two species of American grapes. The northern fox grape (Vitis Labrusca) is the origin of the varieties called Isabella, Concord, Hartford, etc., and the southern fox grape (Vitis vulpina) has produced the Scuppernong, and probably the Catawba. Fox hunter. (a) One who pursues foxes with hounds. (b) A horse ridden in a fox chase. Fox shark (Zo["o]l.), the thrasher shark. See Thrasher shark, under Thrasher. Fox sleep, pretended sleep. Fox sparrow (Zo["o]l.), a large American sparrow (Passerella iliaca); -- so called on account of its reddish color. Fox squirrel (Zo["o]l.), a large North American squirrel (Sciurus niger, or S. cinereus). In the Southern States the black variety prevails; farther north the fulvous and gray variety, called the cat squirrel, is more common. Fox terrier (Zo["o]l.), one of a peculiar breed of terriers, used in hunting to drive foxes from their holes, and for other purposes. There are rough- and smooth-haired varieties. Fox trot, a pace like that which is adopted for a few steps, by a horse, when passing from a walk into a trot, or a trot into a walk.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Fox Fox, v. i. To turn sour; -- said of beer, etc., when it sours in fermenting.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Fox Fox, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Foxed; p. pr. & vb. n. Foxing.] [See Fox, n., cf. Icel. fox imposture.] 1. To intoxicate; to stupefy with drink. I drank . . . so much wine that I was almost foxed. --Pepys. 2. To make sour, as beer, by causing it to ferment. 3. To repair the feet of, as of boots, with new front upper leather, or to piece the upper fronts of.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(foxes, foxing, foxed) 1. A fox is a wild animal which looks like a dog and has reddish-brown fur, a pointed face and ears, and a thick tail. Foxes eat smaller animals. N-COUNT 2. If you are foxed by something, you cannot understand it or solve it. (mainly BRIT) I admit I was foxed for some time... Only once did we hit on a question which foxed one of the experts... VERB: be V-ed, V n

Easton's Bible Dictionary

(Heb. shu'al, a name derived from its digging or burrowing under ground), the Vulpes thaleb, or Syrian fox, the only species of this animal indigenous to Palestine. It burrows, is silent and solitary in its habits, is destructive to vineyards, being a plunderer of ripe grapes (Cant. 2:15). The Vulpes Niloticus, or Egyptian dog-fox, and the Vulpes vulgaris, or common fox, are also found in Palestine.

The proverbial cunning of the fox is alluded to in Ezek. 13:4, and in Luke 13:32, where our Lord calls Herod "that fox." In Judg. 15:4, 5, the reference is in all probability to the jackal. The Hebrew word _shu'al_ through the Persian _schagal_ becomes our jackal (Canis aureus), so that the word may bear that signification here. The reasons for preferring the rendering "jackal" are (1) that it is more easily caught than the fox; (2) that the fox is shy and suspicious, and flies mankind, while the jackal does not; and (3) that foxes are difficult, jackals comparatively easy, to treat in the way here described. Jackals hunt in large numbers, and are still very numerous in Southern Palestine.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

(shu`al; compare Arabic tha`lab (Jud 15:4; Ne 4:3; Ps 63:10; So 2:15; La 5:18; Eze 13:4); alopex (Mt 8:20; Lu 9:58; 13:32)): The foxes of different parts of Europe and Western Asia differ more or less from each other, and some authors have given the local tyes distinct specific names. Tristram, for instance, distinguishes the Egyptian fox, Vulpes nilotica, of Southern Palestine, and the tawny fox, Vulpes flavescens, of the North and East It is possible that the range of the desert fox, Vulpes leucopus, of Southwestern Asia may also reach Syria. We have, however, the authority of the Royal Natural History for considering all these as merely local races of one species, the common fox, Vulpes alopex or Canis vulpes. The natives of Syria and Palestine do not always distinguish the fox and jackal although the two animals are markedly different. The jackal and wolf also are frequently confounded.

See DRAGON; JACKAL.

In Ps 63:9 f we have, "Those that seek my soul, to destroy it, .... shall be given over to the power of the sword: they shall be a portion for foxes" (shu`alim). It has been thought that the jackal is meant here (Revised Version margin), and that may well be, though it is also true that the fox does not refuse carrion. In the Revised Version, margin, "jackal" is suggested in two other passages, though why is not clear, since the rendering "fox" seems quite appropriate in both. They are Ne 4:3, ".... if a fox go up, he shall break down their stone wall," and La 5:17 f, ".... our eyes are dim; for the mountain of Zion which is desolate: the foxes walk upon it." the Revised Version, margin also has "jackals" in Jud 15:4 f, where Samson "caught three hundred foxes .... and put a firebrand in the midst between every two tails .... and let them go into the standing grain of the Philistines, and burnt up both the shocks and the standing grain, and also the oliveyards." Jackals are probably more numerous than foxes, but the substitution does not appreciably diminish the difficulties in the way of any natural explanation of the story. In So 2:15 we have a reference to the fondness of the fox for grapes. In Mt 8:20 and Lu 9:58 Jesus says in warning to a would-be follower, "The foxes have holes, and the birds of the heaven have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head." Foxes differ from most of the Canidae in burrowing holes for their lairs, unless indeed they take possession of the burrow of another animal, such as the badger. In Lu 13:32 Jesus compares Herod to a fox.

Alfred Ely Day.

1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue

A sharp, cunning fellow. Also an old term for a sword, probably a rusty one, or else from its being dyed red with blood; some say this name alluded to certain swords of remarkable good temper, or metal, marked with the figure of a fox, probably the sign, or rebus, of the maker.

Moby Thesaurus

African hunting dog, Artful Dodger, Cape hunting dog, Philadelphia lawyer, Yankee horse trader, brush wolf, charmer, coyote, crafty rascal, dingo, dodger, glib tongue, horse trader, hyena, jackal, lobo, medicine wolf, prairie wolf, reynard, shyster, slick citizen, sly dog, slyboots, sweet talker, swindler, timber wolf, trickster, wolf