fox
noun
any of several carnivores of the dog family, especially those of the genus Vulpes, smaller than wolves, having a pointed, slightly upturned muzzle, erect ears, and a long, bushy tail.
fox
1 American
[foks]
/ fɒks /
noun
-
foxes,
plural
-
fox
plural
-
any of several carnivores of the dog family, especially those of the genus Vulpes, smaller than wolves, having a pointed, slightly upturned muzzle, erect ears, and a long, bushy tail.
-
the fur of this animal.
-
a cunning or crafty person.
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Fox a member of a tribe of North American Algonquian Indians, formerly in Wisconsin, later merged with the Sauk tribe.
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Fox the Algonquian language of the Fox, Sauk, and Kickapoo Indians.
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Bible. a scavenger, perhaps the jackal.
-
a word formerly used in communications to represent the letter F: replaced by Foxtrot.
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Slang. an attractive young woman or young man.
verb (used with object)
-
foxes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
foxed,
past participle, past
-
foxing
present participle
-
to deceive or trick.
-
to repair or make (a shoe) with leather or other material applied so as to cover or form part of the upper front.
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Obsolete. to intoxicate or befuddle.
verb (used without object)
-
foxes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
foxed,
past participle, past
-
foxing
present participle
-
to act cunningly or craftily.
-
(of book leaves, prints, etc.) to become foxed.
Fox
2
American
[foks]
/ fɒks /
noun
-
Charles James, 1749–1806, British orator and statesman.
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George, 1624–91, English religious leader and writer: founder of the Society of Friends.
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John. John Foxe.
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John William, Jr., 1863–1919, U.S. novelist.
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Margaret, 1833–93, and her sister Katherine (“Kate” ), 1839–92, U.S. spiritualist mediums, born in Canada.
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Sir William, 1812–93, New Zealand statesman, born in England: prime minister 1856, 1861–62, 1869–72, 1873.
fox
1
British
/ fɒks /
noun
-
any canine mammal of the genus Vulpes and related genera. They are mostly predators that do not hunt in packs and typically have large pointed ears, a pointed muzzle, and a bushy tail
-
the fur of any of these animals, usually reddish-brown or grey in colour
-
a person who is cunning and sly
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slang a sexually attractive woman
-
Bible
-
a jackal
-
an image of a false prophet
-
-
nautical small stuff made from yarns twisted together and then tarred
verb
-
(tr) to perplex or confound
to fox a person with a problem
-
to cause (paper, wood, etc) to become discoloured with spots, or (of paper, etc) to become discoloured, as through mildew
-
(tr) to trick; deceive
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(intr) to act deceitfully or craftily
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informal (tr) to pursue stealthily; tail
-
informal (tr) to chase and retrieve (a ball)
-
obsolete (tr) to befuddle with alcoholic drink
Fox
2
British
/ fɒks /
noun
-
Charles James . 1749–1806, British Whig statesman and orator. He opposed North over taxation of the American colonies and Pitt over British intervention against the French Revolution. He advocated parliamentary reform and the abolition of the slave trade
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George . 1624–91, English religious leader; founder (1647) of the Society of Friends (Quakers)
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Terry , full name Terrance Stanley Fox (1958–81). Canadian athlete: he lost a leg to cancer and subsequently attempted a coast-to-coast run across Canada to raise funds for cancer research
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Vicente ( Spanish viˈθɛnte). born 1942, Mexican politician; president of Mexico (2000-06)
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Sir William . 1812–93, New Zealand statesman, born in England: prime minister of New Zealand (1856; 1861–62; 1869–72; 1873)
Fox
3
British
/ fɒks /
noun
-
a member of a North American Indian people formerly living west of Lake Michigan along the Fox River
-
the language of this people, belonging to the Algonquian family
fox
Idioms
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
foxsimple
-
foxessimple
-
have foxedperfect
-
has foxedperfect
-
am foxingprogressive
-
are foxingprogressive
-
is foxingprogressive
-
have been foxingperfect progressive
-
has been foxingperfect progressive
Past
-
foxedsimple
-
had foxedperfect
-
was foxingprogressive
-
were foxingprogressive
-
had been foxingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of fox
First recorded before 900; 1960–65 fox for def. 8; Middle English, Old English; cognate with Old Saxon vohs, Middle Low German vos, Old High German fuhs ( German Fuchs ); cf. vixen
Explanation
A fox is a small, dog-like wild animal with pointed ears and nose, and a thick tail. A red fox has dark front legs that look like little opera gloves. They’re sneaky, so a fox can also be a tricky person. There are different kinds of foxes, but they all have a reputation for sneaking around and stealing stuff. Because they’re known for being wily and smart, you can use the word fox to describe someone who's sly: "That old fox always manages to get other people to buy his lunch." Colloquially, a fox is also an attractive person. They say don’t let a fox guard the henhouse, even if the fox is really good looking.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
To investigate how cannabinoids influence fear and anxiety, researchers exposed mice to a threatening smell derived from fox urine.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 7, 2026
From the new world, a bird-shaped jar wears women’s attire from the Moche culture and a bottle is emblazoned with a fearsome fox warrior.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 2026
Having the event in November will allow people to go all-out, said his performance partner Krizel Guiral, or "Zhel", dressed as Youko Kurama, the red-headed fox demon from the same Japanese manga and anime classic.
From Barron's ● Aug. 1, 2026
In another from last month, a user asked Claude how to "become become Nine-tailed fox?"
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
In the afternoon, Duane searched out his friend the arctic fox.
From "The Very, Very Far North" by Dan Bar-el
El-Sayed is not merely surviving Fox News hits.
From Salon ● Oct. 8, 2026
Adidas is suing Australian label White Fox for selling and advertising clothes with a four-striped design, arguing it is "deceptively similar" to the German brand's distinct logo.
From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2026
“If we can’t use our base when we have a contingency, what’s the point of having the base and, frankly, the point of the alliance?” he said on Fox News.
From Slate ● Oct. 8, 2026
He told Guilfoyle he would pay her $1 million if she helped him land an interview on former Fox News host Tucker Carlson’s show—where he hoped to draw attention to his cause.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026
Grimes accused the Fox sisters in a letter printed in the New-York Tribune on July 9, 1850.
From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock
True, in the nearly two decades that she’s been creating plush figures, she’s produced charmingly minimalistic foxes, cats and buffalo fit for a nursery.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2026
The charity said careful monitoring, in partnership with the farmers on whose land the birds nested, meant the nests were protected by fences to exclude ground predators such as foxes.
From BBC ● Aug. 24, 2026
Scavenger animals such as possums, red foxes and crows can be exposed to the virus while devouring the carcasses of infected birds.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 24, 2026
Looking out their back windows, they can see foxes, deer and possums in neighboring woodlands.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 13, 2026
Arctic foxes and hares and round, puffy birds called willow ptarmigan that were brown in summer and turned white in winter.
From "Two Degrees" by Alan Gratz
But the algorithms that underpin smart systems can be foxed by mundane events.
From BBC ● Jun. 11, 2020
The request for “neutral British” – not posh, but no overly strong regional accents either – seemed to have foxed a number of actors whose accents roamed around the counties.
From The Guardian ● Apr. 26, 2018
All that remained of those days, apart from the stories, were these exotic bottles, their labels brittle and foxed.
From The New Yorker ● Jan. 15, 2017
What we do see is that the pages are extensively foxed, a term that refers to ugly spotting.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 14, 2011
I wonder what he had in mind for you to do with it; as you couldn’t read it, I’m foxed as to what he was a thinking.”
From "The Golden Compass" by Philip Pullman
In most cases, the originals were replaced with high-quality copies that mimicked even their foxing — a sign of a sophisticated operation.
From New York Times ● May 1, 2024
If a fox isn’t foxing, is she even a fox?
From Slate ● Jun. 24, 2020
While the blues lurk everywhere in Raitt’s work, she—like George—avoids taking long solos, instead foxing her slide work in and around and behind her vocals.
From The New Yorker ● Apr. 9, 2016
Not content with making your feet happy, the new design comes with a fully embroidered All Star patch, on-trend high foxing, and monochrome matte eyelets.
From Forbes ● Jul. 23, 2015
These two specimens differ in coloration from Bornean birds in the U. S. National Museum; I think the difference results from "foxing" of the older specimens.
From Birds from North Borneo University of Kansas Publications, Museum of Natural History, Volume 17, No. 8, pp. 377-433, October 27, 1966 by Max C. Thompson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
