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foxfire

or fox-fire

[foks-fahyuh r]
noun Chiefly Midland and Southern U.S.
  1. organic luminescence, especially from certain fungi on decaying wood.
  2. any of various fungi causing luminescence in decaying wood.
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Origin of foxfire

late Middle English word dating back to 1425–75; see origin at fox, fire
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for foxfire

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • These should have been far more terrifying than any foxfire.

    Old Plymouth Trails

    Winthrop Packard

  • The Angel knelt beside his flower bed and recklessly tore up by the roots a big bunch of foxfire.

    Freckles

    Gene Stratton-Porter

  • Suspicion glinted like foxfire in the cold green eyes beneath her puckered brows.

    The Black Bag

    Louis Joseph Vance

  • That that grows out of the foxfire in the swamp has its roots too far back in the inheritance of the race to be discounted.

    Old Plymouth Trails

    Winthrop Packard

British Dictionary definitions for foxfire

foxfire

noun
  1. a luminescent glow emitted by certain fungi on rotting woodSee also bioluminescence
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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