Fox
nounA wild carnivorous mammal of the dog family, known for its reddish coat, pointed muzzle, and bushy tail.
How to spell fox
3 letters · 1 syllable
How to pronounce fox
What does fox mean?
- nounA wild carnivorous mammal of the dog family, known for its reddish coat, pointed muzzle, and bushy tail.
- verbTo deceive or baffle someone by being clever or cunning.
Fox in a sentence
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noun
A red fox slipped through the hedge at dusk.
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verb
The cryptic final clue managed to fox even the experienced solvers.
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noun
The farmer set traps after a fox raided the henhouse.
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verb
The slick negotiator tried to fox the buyers with confusing figures.
Where does fox come from?
Language of origin: Germanic
Fox is a thoroughly native word, descending from the Old English fox, which named the same red, bushy-tailed animal we know today. It traces back to a reconstructed Germanic root, and its close cousins still appear across the family: the Dutch vos and the German Fuchs all share the same ancestor. Scholars link this group to an older sense connected with a thick, hairy tail, since the fox's brush is its most striking feature. Because the word is so old and short, its spelling has stayed remarkably stable for over a thousand years, with the simple f-o-x form surviving unchanged. The animal's reputation for cunning later gave English the verb 'to fox', meaning to outwit or baffle.
How the word is built
- fox (whole native root, no affixes)
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