kit fox

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. The American corsak, or swift-fox, Vulpes velox, a small fox peculiar to western North America, where it lives in holes in the prairies. It has been noted and named for its swift-footedness, but this has been much exaggerated. It was called kit-fox by Lewis and Clarke, named Canis velox by Thomas Say in 1823, and called C. cinereo-argentalus by Richardson in 1829. It is scarcely half as large as the common fox, the length over all being only about 2¾ feet, of which the tail is 1 foot. The color is a uniform pale reddish-yellow above, in winter paler grayish with silvery tips of the hairs: the under parts whitish, the upper lip and tip of the tail blackish. The pelage is very fine, with copious under-fur. This diminutive fox is closely related to Vulpes carsac of Asia, having no near relative among European or American foxes.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. (Zoöl.) a small burrowing fox (Vulpes velox), inhabiting the region of the Rocky Mountains. It is brownish gray, reddish on the breast and flanks, and white below. Called also swift fox.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. small grey fox of the plains of western North America
2. n. small grey fox of southwestern United States; may be a subspecies of Vulpes velox