foxy a also foxey OED ~ 2 (1850, 1879), Cent ~ 2 (1890) for sense 1.
   1 Reddish-coloured; sandy-haired; rufous.
   1895 Outing 94 His luxuriant, reddish beard [has] earned for him the sobriquet of 'the foxy man,' contracted to simple 'Fox' in familiar intercourse. [1897] 1927 DOYLE (ed) 72 "The Landfall of Cabot": With a scattered foxey whisker. 1901 Christmas Review 8 The crowning glory of Con's makeup was a foxy wig, and never did Sampson have more strength in his locks than did Chas B Hawkins in his red head-covering. 1910 PRICHARD 86 He was able to secure his brother Frank—a 'foxy man,' as Jack described him, meaning red-haired and bearded, a man with as genial a temper and as broad a back as ever added to the gaiety of a camp. 1924 ENGLAND 147 Den Hickson call un ahl de foxy sons o' guns, an' start to make fast to un... Can't strike de cap'n of a ship, ye know. 1941 DULEY 263-4 But he had an amazing skipper. His navigation was something to write home about. He never looked at a sextant. He searched for a 'foxy rock' and turned north. 1953 Nfld & Lab Pilot ii, 483 Foxey islands ... both have conical mounds, composed of reddish rocks covered with grass.
   2 Faded in colour from a dark to a lighter hue.
   [c1904] 1927 DOYLE (ed) 67 "The Kelligrews Soiree": And a swallow-tail from Hogan / That was foxy on the tail. 1925 Dial Notes v, 331 Foxey. Discoloured through age; faded. M 65-9 He turns a foxy colour (pale). 1982 Evening Telegram 16 Feb, p. 17 [He] said it would be better if she had a bottle of ammonia to take the foxy colour out of her husband's gansey.
   3 Attrib, comb foxy chub: eastern ruby-crowned kinglet (Regulus calendula calendula) (1959 MCATEE 56).
   foxy rogue, ~ ruler, ~ tom: fox sparrow (Passerella iliaca); BOBBY-ROOTER, HEDGE SPARROW, RUSTY TOM ROOTER (1959 MCATEE 66; 1976 Avifaunal Survey 159).
   1913 HOWLEY 8 Later on the loud harmonious note of the fox sparrow, as we call him the 'Foxy Tom' [enlivens] the woods.
   foxy rum: a light-coloured or amber rum.
   [1927 BURKE] "Who Put the Herring on the Booze?": And Herrings saturated, boys, / With Old Tom and foxy Rum, / While us poor devils in the town / A drink is trying to bum. 1933 GREENE 99 There might be seen a black bottle of 'foxy' St Pierre rum (that has more than likely never paid its duty) being passed from hand to hand. Q 71-13 When light rum first appeared on the Newfoundland market, it was referred to as foxy rum.
   foxy tom: see foxy rogue above.
   foxy tom-cod: a small cod-fish.
   P 148-63 ~ Small tom cod sold at door, 10-12 in. long. Q 71-6 ~ used to describe a small reddish-brown cod usually caught close to shore.

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