fox squirrel

American

noun

any of several North American arboreal squirrels varying in color and of an exceptionally large size.

fox squirrel British

noun

a large squirrel, Sciurus niger , occurring in E North America

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of fox squirrel

An Americanism dating back to 1675–85

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.

“A lot of the Civil War veterans came from the East by train and brought the fox squirrels with them.”

From Los Angeles Times

Ralph’s photo of a fox squirrel peering imperiously down from a tree is the winner of my 2023 Squirrel Week Squirrel Photography Contest.

From Washington Post

It was a newborn fox squirrel that Brian figured had fallen 25 feet from a nearby tree.

From Washington Post

In Hunt’s case, that means studying fox squirrels, Sciurus niger.

From Washington Post

Cognitive scientists and biomechanics experts at the University of California, Berkeley, set out to test both the agility and decision making of wild fox squirrels in a eucalyptus grove at the edge of the campus.

From New York Times

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023