to outfox
- verb
- /ˌaʊtˈfɑks/
- The detective was able to outfox the criminal by anticipating his every move.
- outfox opponents
- outfox the Democrats
- try to outfox
He's gloating a little bit about he's outfoxed the humans.
- He's gloating a little bit about he's outfoxed the humans.
Examples
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And if you manage to outfox the old scoundrel... you and your brother can stay as long as you like.
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China is slowly establishing deals and connections with folks for resources and strategic business outposts, outfoxing us.
Blog text (19) -
I can outfox that dumb old dog anytime.
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That means Coach Klein will have to find another way to outfox Red.
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Anyway, I guess I outfoxed those men.
Fiction book (1990) -
Michael tried outfoxing the Sharks.
Blog text (9) -
Did you hear how Tom outfoxed those varmints?
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It's the third time she's outfoxed me.
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Benazir was outfoxed by a more sophisticated political organization.
Academic text (1991) -
Yet again, Lamar and Stewart outfoxed Ganahl.
Academic text (2009)
Synonyms
To defeat another person or team in a contest
To get an advantage over someone by being clever
Gain an advantage over someone by using skill or clever plans
To beat someone by being more clever than them
Think faster or smarter than someone to get an advantage
To gain an advantage over someone by using clever or unexpected actions
To trick someone to gain an unfair advantage
To trick someone by being clever to gain advantage
To be more clever than someone to win in a competition or argument
Act in a clever, tricky way to fool others
To try to be better than someone in a contest or task
How Clever
Surface Forms
Morphology
Etymology
Outfox comes from the parts out- ('more than' or 'beyond') and fox, the animal people think of as very clever, so to outfox someone is to be cleverer than them and trick or beat them.