sly as a fox

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*sly as a fox

and *cunning as a fox

Cliché smart and clever. (*Also: as ~.) My nephew is as sly as a fox. You have to be cunning as a fox to outwit me.

See also: fox, sly

References in classic literature ?

In things that a man would not be seen in himself, it is a point of cunning, to borrow the name of the world; as to say, The world says, or There is a speech abroad.

It is a point of cunning, to let fall those words in a man's own name, which he would have another man learn, and use, and thereupon take advantage.

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In this question he saw subtle cunning, as men of his type see cunning in everything, so he frowned and did not answer immediately.

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These two narratives gave a proper direction to the subsequent inquiries, which were now made with the characteristic cunning of savages.

Of the dog who carries the heart and cunning of a Huron under a pale skin--La Longue Carabine.

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But Glinda had not only equal cunning, but far more experience than the Witch.

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Dragging his kill after him the ape-man ascended to the middle terrace, and settling himself comfortably in the crotch of a tree where he could still view the trail beneath, cut a juicy steak from the deer's loin, and burying his strong, white teeth in the hot flesh proceeded to enjoy the fruits of his prowess and his cunning.

To endeavor to snatch him from the midst of the armed horsemen, not even Tarzan would attempt other than in the last extremity, for the way of the wild is the way of caution and cunning, unless they be aroused to rashness by pain or anger.

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No woodcraft, no cunning, no stealth was necessary in the hunting of man, nor had Numa any stomach for either delay or silence.

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She must be contemplating some cunning strategy, I thought, and so I fought on secure in the belief that my divine princess stood close behind me.

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You must marry so that your cunning and your courage live after you.

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By the aid of cunning architects he had first blasted his harbour into shape, then built his hotels and pleasure-palaces, and then leased them to dependants of his who knew the right sort of people, and who knew that it was as much as their lease was worth to find accommodation for teetotal amateur photographers or wistful wandering Sunday-school treats.

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We lent to Alexander the strength of Hercules, The wisdom of our foreheads, the cunning of our knees; We bowed our necks to service: they ne'er were loosed again,-- Make way there--way for the ten-foot teams Of the Forty-Pounder train!

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Skill, coolness, audacity, and cunning he possessed in a superior degree, and it must be a cunning whale to escape the stroke of his harpoon.

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We were not fighters like them; we were cunning and cowardly, and it was because of our cunning and cowardice, and our inordinate capacity for fear, that we survived in that frightfully hostile environment of the Younger World.