different between skunk vs fox

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sk??k/
• Rhymes: -??k

Etymology 1

From an unattested Southern New England Algonquian word, cognate with Abenaki segôgw, segonku (“he who squirts (musk) / urinates”), from Proto-Algonquian *šeka·kwa, from *šek- (“to urinate”).

Noun

skunk (plural skunks)

1. Any of various small mammals, of the family Mephitidae, native to North and Central America, having a glossy black with a white coat and two musk glands at the base of the tail for emitting a noxious smell as a defensive measure.
   • 1634, William Wood, New Englands Prospect:

     The bea?ts of offence be Squunckes, Ferrets, Foxes, who?e impudence ?ometimes drives them to the good wives Hen roo?t […]

2. (slang, derogatory) A despicable person.
3. (slang) A walkover victory in sports or board games, as when the opposing side is unable to score.

   Coordinate term: shutout

4. (cribbage) A win by 30 or more points. (A double skunk is 60 or more, a triple skunk 90 or more.)

Derived terms

• drunk as a skunk
• skunk at a garden party
• skunky

Descendants

• ? Czech: skunk
• ? Danish: skunk
• ? German: Skunk
• ? Finnish: skunkki
• ? French: skunks
• ? Icelandic: skunkur
• ? Japanese: ???? (sukanku)
• ? Norwegian: skunk
• ? Polish: skunks
• ? Russian: ????? (skuns)
• ? Slovak: skunk
• ? Swedish: skunk

Translations

Verb

skunk (third-person singular simple present skunks, present participle skunking, simple past and past participle skunked)

1. (transitive) To defeat so badly as to prevent any opposing points.

   I skunked him at cards.

   We fished all day but the lake skunked us.

2. (cribbage) To win by 30 or more points.
3. (intransitive, of beer) To go bad, to spoil.

See also

• Mephitis
• Spilogale
• Conepatus
• polecat

Etymology 2

Blend of skinhead +? punk, influenced by the animal (Etymology 1).

Noun

skunk (plural skunks)

1. A member of a hybrid skinhead and punk subculture.
   • 2006, Pam Nilan, Carles Feixa, Global Youth?: Hybrid Identities, Plural Worlds (page 192)

     In the early 1980s, certain ex-punks joined them, becoming 'skunks' – a hybrid subculture of skinheads and punks.

   • 2011, Gerard DeGroot (quoting Brown), Seventies Unplugged

     […] mods, skins, suedes, smoothies, punks, skunks, rude boys, soul boys and headbangers […]

Etymology 3

From skunkweed (“certain highly aromatic marijuana”)

Noun

skunk (countable and uncountable, plural skunks)

1. (slang) Clipping of skunkweed (marijuana).
2. Any of the strains of hybrids of Cannabis sativa and Cannabis indica that may have THC levels exceeding those of typical hashish.

Czech

Noun

skunk m

1. skunk (animal)

Further reading

• skunk in P?íru?ní slovník jazyka ?eského, 1935–1957
• skunk in Slovník spisovného jazyka ?eského, 1960–1971, 1989

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from English skunk.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sk??k/
• Hyphenation: skunk

Noun

skunk m (uncountable)

1. skunk, weed with a high level of THC

Swedish

Noun

skunk c

1. a skunk

Declension

English

Etymology

From Middle English fox, from Old English fox (“fox”), from Proto-Germanic *fuhsaz (“fox”), from Proto-Indo-European *pú?sos (“the tailed one”), possibly from *pu?- (“tail”).

Cognate with Scots fox (“fox”), West Frisian foks (“fox”), Fering-Öömrang North Frisian foos and Sölring and Heligoland fos, Dutch vos (“fox”), Low German vos (“fox”), German Fuchs (“fox”), Icelandic fóa (“fox”), Tocharian B päk? (“tail, chowrie”), Russian ??? (pux, “down, fluff”), Sanskrit ????? (púccha) (whence Torwali ???? (p?š, “fox”), Hindi ???? (p?ñch, “tail”)).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /f?ks/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /f?ks/
• Rhymes: -?ks

Noun

fox (plural foxes or (nonstandard, dialectal) foxen)

1. A red fox, small carnivore (Vulpes vulpes), related to dogs and wolves, with red or silver fur and a bushy tail.
   • 15^th century, The Fox, verse 1:

     The fox went out on a chase one night, / he prayed to the Moon to give him light, / for he had many a mile to go that night / before he reached the town-o, town-o, town-o. / He had many a mile to go that night / before he reached the town-o.
2. Any of numerous species of small wild canids resembling the red fox. In the taxonomy they form the tribe Vulpini within the family Canidae, consisting of nine genera (see the Wikipedia article on the fox).
3. The fur of a fox.
4. A fox terrier.
5. The gemmeous dragonet, a fish, Callionymus lyra, so called from its yellow color.
6. A cunning person.
7. (slang, figuratively) A physically attractive man or woman.
   • 1993, Laura Antoniou, The Marketplace, p.90:

     And Jerry was cute, you know, I liked him, but Frank was a total fox. And he was rougher than Jerry, you know, not so cultured.
8. (nautical) A small strand of rope made by twisting several rope-yarns together. Used for seizings, mats, sennits, and gaskets.
9. (mechanics) A wedge driven into the split end of a bolt to tighten it.
10. A hidden radio transmitter, finding which is the goal of radiosport.
    • 2006, H. Ward Silver, The ARRL Ham Radio License Manual

      Locating a hidden transmitter (the fox) has been a popular ham activity for many years.

11. (cartomancy) The fourteenth Lenormand card.
12. (obsolete) A sword; so called from the stamp of a fox on the blade, or perhaps of a wolf taken for a fox.

Synonyms

• (a mammal related to dogs and wolves): tod
• (attractive man or woman): see also Thesaurus:beautiful woman

Hypernyms

• canid

Hyponyms

• vixen (feminine form)

Derived terms

Descendants

• ? Cheyenne: vóhkéso
• ? Japanese: ????? (fokkusu)
• ? Maori: p?kiha

Translations

See also

• (canids) canid; coyote, dog, fox, jackal, wolf ^{(Category: en:Canids)}
• Reynard
• kitsune
• cub

References

• Fox in the 1921 edition of Collier's Encyclopedia.

Verb

fox (third-person singular simple present foxes, present participle foxing, simple past and past participle foxed)

1. (transitive) To trick, fool or outwit (someone) by cunning or ingenuity.
2. (transitive) To confuse or baffle (someone).

   This crossword puzzle has completely foxed me.

3. (intransitive) To act slyly or craftily.
4. (intransitive) To discolour paper. Fox marks are spots on paper caused by humidity. (See foxing.)

   The pages of the book show distinct foxing.

5. (transitive) To make sour, as beer, by causing it to ferment.
6. (intransitive) To turn sour; said of beer, etc., when it sours in fermenting.
7. (transitive) To intoxicate; to stupefy with drink.

   • I drank […] so much wine that I was almost foxed.

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

Derived terms

• outfox

Translations

Anagrams

• Oxf.

Middle English

Alternative forms

• vox, wox

Etymology

From Old English fox, from Proto-Germanic *fuhsaz.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /f?ks/
• Rhymes: -?ks

Noun

fox (plural foxes or fox)

1. A fox or its fur.
2. A lier or schemer.

Descendants

• English: fox
• Scots: fox
• Yola: vox

Old English

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *fuhsaz. Cognate with Old Frisian *foks, Old Saxon fohs, Old Dutch fus, Old High German fuhs.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /foks/

Noun

fox m

1. fox

Declension

Derived terms

• foxhol

Descendants

• Middle English: fox, vox, wox
  • English: fox
  • Scots: fox
  • Yola: vox

Old French

Alternative forms

• fols, fous

Adjective

fox

1. nominative and oblique masculine singular of fol

Romanian

Etymology

From French fox.

Noun

fox m (plural foc?i)

1. fox terrier

Declension