fox
noun · verb
Simple meaning
A wild dog-like animal with a bushy tail and pointy ears
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
fahksIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈfɑks
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
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
Alert carnivorous mammal with pointed muzzle and ears and a bushy tail; most are predators that do not hunt in packs
in particular
The red fox, a small carnivore (Vulpes vulpes) with red or silver fur.
The grey or reddish-brown fur of a fox
A member of an Algonquian people formerly living west of Lake Michigan along the Fox River
figurative
A cunning person.
verb
transitive
To trick, fool or outwit (someone) by cunning or ingenuity.
transitive
To make sour, as beer, by causing it to ferment.
intransitive
To turn sour; said of beer, etc., when it sours in fermenting.
intransitive
To discolour paper. Fox marks are spots on paper caused by humidity.
transitive
To confuse or baffle (someone).
intransitive
To act slyly or craftily.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- A2 · Elementary (estimated)
- Frequency
- Common
- Typical Use
- General English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: 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
Used this way, fox is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It stays understated rather than dramatic. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Mild
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use fox
- “We saw a wild fox run across the yard this morning.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
Wild dog of northern South America.
Exceptionally large arboreal squirrel of eastern United States.
Large bat with a head that resembles the head of a fox.
A ballroom dance in quadruple time.
Native grape of northeastern United States.
A small dugout with a pit for individual shelter against enemy fire.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.