foxship

Noun

foxship (uncountable)

1. The character or qualities of a fox; foxiness; craftiness; cunning.
   • Hadst thou foxship to banish him that struck more blows for Rome than thou hast spoken words.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]...
   • "[…] 'Are we not Wasawahili?' men who obtain their ends by foxship?"2011, William Cunningham Bissell, Urban design, chaos, and colonial power in Zanzibar
2. (Used as a mock title) The fox.
   • 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.1880, The Californian
   • 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, […]1904, Field and Stream