DCHP-1 Online

silver fox

• 1 a color phase of the red fox, Vulpes ful, characterized by black fur having silvery-white guard hairs dispersed over the back, found rarely in nature but nowadays bred on fox farms.

  See also: hair  silver (def. 1)  silver-gray (fox)  silver-hair  

  • 1770  (1792)  On Niger Sound we saw a good silver fox.
  • 1861  My own theory is that the silver fox is the offspring of two silver parents; the cross of a silver and red; the red of two reds; and the different shades being caused by fresh inter-breeds.
  • 1946  . . . in the wilds the silver fox is a rare phenomenon--probably two, or at the most, three per cent of red fox litters.
  • 1964  [Folder] It is also the birthplace of the silver fox industry.

• 2 the fur of the silver fox.

  See also: silver-fox skin  silver-gray (fox)  

  • 1820  (1823)  A silver fox, white fox, or otter, are reckoned two beavers, and a black fox, or large black bear are equal to four.
  • 1921  The silver fox is the choicest of all foxes, and now that sea otters are almost extinct, it may be considered the most valuable of all furs.
  • 1947  A pair of silver fox mittens dangled from ornate cords around his neck.