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fox.

A small-to-medium-sized canine mammal, related to dogs and wolves, with a flattened skull, upright triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail, of the following groups:

3 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/fɒks/Received-Pronunciation/fɔks/Australia, British, Scotland, Southern, Standard/fɑks/General-American/fɒks/New-Zealand
  1. A small-to-medium-sized canine mammal, related to dogs and wolves, with a flattened skull, upright triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail, of the following groups: Any member of the genus Vulpes; a true fox.

    countable · uncountable
  2. A small-to-medium-sized canine mammal, related to dogs and wolves, with a flattened skull, upright triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail, of the following groups: Any member of the genus Vulpes; a true fox. The red fox, a small carnivore (Vulpes vulpes) with red or silver fur.

    countable · uncountable
    The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.
  3. A small-to-medium-sized canine mammal, related to dogs and wolves, with a flattened skull, upright triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail, of the following groups: Other canines that resemble true foxes, of the genera Cerdocyon, Lycalopex, Otocyon, and Urocyon.

    countable · uncountable
  4. The fur of a fox.

    uncountable
  5. A fox terrier.

    countable · uncountable
  6. A flying fox.

    Australia · countable · uncountable
  7. The gemmeous dragonet, a fish, Callionymus lyra, so called from its yellow color.

    countable · uncountable
  8. A cunning person.

    countable · figuratively · uncountable
  9. A physically attractive person, typically a woman.

    countable · figuratively · slang · uncountable
  10. A person with reddish brown hair, typically a woman.

    countable · figuratively · slang · uncountable
  11. A small strand of rope made by twisting several rope-yarns together. Used for seizings, mats, sennits, and gaskets.

    countable · uncountable
  12. A wedge driven into the split end of a bolt to tighten it.

    countable · uncountable
  13. A hidden radio transmitter, finding which is the goal of radiosport.

    countable · uncountable
  14. The fourteenth Lenormand card.

    countable · uncountable
  15. A sword; so called from the stamp of a fox on the blade, or perhaps of a wolf taken for a fox.

    countable · obsolete · uncountable
  16. Air-to-air weapon launched.

    countable · uncountable
  17. Someone who fuses many different influences and concepts in their philosophy or worldview.

    countable · uncountable
Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *púḱsos Proto-Germanic *fuhsaz Old English fox Middle English fox English fox From Middle English fox, from Old English fox (“fox”), from Proto-West Germanic *fuhs, from Proto-Germanic *fuhsaz (“fox”), from Proto-Indo-European *púḱsos (“the tailed one”), possibly from *puḱ- (“tail”). Cognates Cognate with Yola vox, voxe (“fox”), North Frisian foos (“fox”), Saterland Frisian Foaks (“fox”), West Frisian foks (“fox”), Alemannic German Fuchs, Fugs, fuksch, fuks, fòcks, vucks (“fox”), Bavarian Fuchs, vucs, vuks (“fox”), Central Franconian Fuss (“fox”), Cimbrian buks, vuks (“fox”), Dutch vos (“fox”), German Fuchs (“fox”), Low German Voss (“fox”), Luxembourgish Fuuss (“fox”), Vilamovian füks (“fox”), Yiddish פֿוקס (fuks, “fox”), Norn fúa (“she-fox”), Gothic 𐍆𐌰𐌿𐌷𐍉 (fauhō, “fox”); also Bulgarian, Russian, and Ukrainian пух (pux, “down, fluff”), Polish puch (“down, fluff; snow”), Sanskrit पुच्छ (púccha, “tail; hind-part”) (whence Bengali পুচ্ছ (puccho, “tail”), Hindi पूँछ (pū̃ch), पूंछ (pūñch, “tail; rear of an object”), Pali puccha (“tail”), Punjabi ਪੂਛ (pūch, “tail”)). Philosophical sense from the 1953 essay The Hedgehog and the Fox by Isaiah Berlin. Military aviation sense from the pre-NATO military spelling alphabet where Fox represented F and was short for 'to fire'.

verb/fɒks/Received-Pronunciation/fɔks/Australia, British, Scotland, Southern, Standard/fɑks/General-American/fɒks/New-Zealand
  1. To trick, fool or outwit (someone) by cunning or ingenuity.

    transitive
  2. To sham, to dissemble.

  3. To confuse or baffle (someone).

    transitive
    This crossword puzzle has completely foxed me.
  4. To act slyly or craftily.

    intransitive
  5. To cheat or rob.

    dated · transitive
  6. To discolour paper. Fox marks are spots on paper caused by humidity. (See foxing.)

    intransitive
    The pages of the book show distinct foxing.
  7. To make sour, as beer, by causing it to ferment.

    transitive
  8. To turn sour; said of beer, etc., when it sours in fermenting.

    intransitive
  9. To intoxicate; to stupefy with drink.

    transitive
  10. To repair (boots) with new front upper leather, or to piece the upper fronts of.

    transitive
Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *púḱsos Proto-Germanic *fuhsaz Old English fox Middle English fox English fox From Middle English fox, from Old English fox (“fox”), from Proto-West Germanic *fuhs, from Proto-Germanic *fuhsaz (“fox”), from Proto-Indo-European *púḱsos (“the tailed one”), possibly from *puḱ- (“tail”). Cognates Cognate with Yola vox, voxe (“fox”), North Frisian foos (“fox”), Saterland Frisian Foaks (“fox”), West Frisian foks (“fox”), Alemannic German Fuchs, Fugs, fuksch, fuks, fòcks, vucks (“fox”), Bavarian Fuchs, vucs, vuks (“fox”), Central Franconian Fuss (“fox”), Cimbrian buks, vuks (“fox”), Dutch vos (“fox”), German Fuchs (“fox”), Low German Voss (“fox”), Luxembourgish Fuuss (“fox”), Vilamovian füks (“fox”), Yiddish פֿוקס (fuks, “fox”), Norn fúa (“she-fox”), Gothic 𐍆𐌰𐌿𐌷𐍉 (fauhō, “fox”); also Bulgarian, Russian, and Ukrainian пух (pux, “down, fluff”), Polish puch (“down, fluff; snow”), Sanskrit पुच्छ (púccha, “tail; hind-part”) (whence Bengali পুচ্ছ (puccho, “tail”), Hindi पूँछ (pū̃ch), पूंछ (pūñch, “tail; rear of an object”), Pali puccha (“tail”), Punjabi ਪੂਛ (pūch, “tail”)). Philosophical sense from the 1953 essay The Hedgehog and the Fox by Isaiah Berlin. Military aviation sense from the pre-NATO military spelling alphabet where Fox represented F and was short for 'to fire'.

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Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.