fox
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
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Fox \Fox\ (f[o^]ks), n.; pl. Foxes. [AS. fox; akin to D. vos,
G. fuchs, OHG. fuhs, foha, Goth. fa['u]h[=o], Icel. f[=o]a
fox, fox fraud; of unknown origin, cf. Skr. puccha tail. Cf.
Vixen.]
1. (Zool.) 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.
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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.
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Subtle as the fox for prey. --Shak.
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2. (Zool.) The European dragonet.
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3. (Zool.) The fox shark or thrasher shark; -- called also
sea fox. See Thrasher shark, under Shark.
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4. A sly, cunning fellow. [Colloq.]
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We call a crafty and cruel man a fox. --Beattie.
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5. (Naut.) Rope yarn twisted together, and rubbed with tar;
-- used for seizings or mats.
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6. A sword; -- so called from the stamp of a fox on the
blade, or perhaps of a wolf taken for a fox. [Obs.]
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Thou diest on point of fox. --Shak.
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7. pl. (Ethnol.) A tribe of Indians which, with the Sacs,
formerly occupied the region about Green Bay, Wisconsin;
-- called also Outagamies.
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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 (Zool.), 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 (Zool.), 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 (Zool.), the thrasher shark. See Thrasher
shark, under Thrasher.
Fox sleep, pretended sleep.
Fox sparrow (Zool.), a large American sparrow (Passerella
iliaca); -- so called on account of its reddish color.
Fox squirrel (Zool.), 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 (Zool.), 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.
Fox wedge (Mach. & Carpentry), a wedge for expanding the
split end of a bolt, cotter, dowel, tenon, or other piece,
to fasten the end in a hole or mortise and prevent
withdrawal. The wedge abuts on the bottom of the hole and
the piece is driven down upon it. Fastening by fox wedges
is called foxtail wedging.
Fox wolf (Zool.), one of several South American wild dogs,
belonging to the genus Canis. They have long, bushy
tails like a fox.
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Fox
(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.
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