kit fox

noun

either of two small gray foxes, Vulpes macrotis and V. velox, found on plains and in open, sandy areas of western North America, commercially valuable for their fur.

Origin of kit fox

1795–1805, Americanism; probably special use of kit³

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for kit-fox

Historical Examples of kit-fox

Little, dried-up geezer with a nose like a kit-fox's and a whine to his voice.
The Uphill Climb
B. M. Bower

British Dictionary definitions for kit-fox

kit fox

noun

another name for swift fox

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

Word Origin and History for kit-fox

1812, perhaps from a shortening of kitten, in reference to smallness.