An archaic or dialectal term for a sly, cunning person who moves carefully, combining 'care' (caution) and 'fox' (a crafty animal).
From care + fox, a compound formed in Middle English by combining care (caution, attention) with fox (the animal traditionally viewed as cunning). Likely regional or obsolete usage.
This compound word is so rare that it barely appears in historical texts—it represents an Old English tendency to create animal-based insults that didn't survive into modern English, unlike 'sly dog' or 'clever fox.'
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