foxship

English

Etymology

From fox +‎ -ship.

Noun

foxship (uncountable)

1. The character or qualities of a fox; foxiness; craftiness; cunning.
   • c. 1608–1609 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Coriolanus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene ii]:

     Hadst thou foxship to banish him that struck more blows for Rome than thou hast spoken words.

   • 2011, William Cunningham Bissell, Urban design, chaos, and colonial power in Zanzibar:

     " […] 'Are we not Wasawahili?' men who obtain their ends by foxship?"

2. (Used as a mock title) The fox.
   • 1880, The Californian:

     The dingo, however, does not possess the cunning of his foxship; and, unlike the latter, he "gives himself away" by heralding his coming by a peculiar howl, the authorship of which it is impossible to mistake.

   • 1904, Field and Stream:

     I caught a fleeting far-away glimpse of the quarry as he loped across an open field just before re-entering the big swamp-I thought a few things that were anything but complimentary to his foxship, and throwing myself on the ground, […]

References

• “foxship”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.