skulk means A group of foxes.
skulk is pronounced /skʌlk/.
Why “skulk” is a great word
To move stealthily or furtively, often from a sense of guilt or with sinister purpose. From Middle English sculke, skulke, skulken, of North Germanic origin; compare Danish skulke (“to shirk”) and Swedish skolka (“to play truant”). Unlike "lurk," which implies a patient, stationary menace, or "sneak," which can be mischievously light, to skulk is to move with the guilty conscience of motion—a shamefaced, predatory slink. It is the shadow that detaches itself from the alley wall, the debtor dodging his creditor's knock, the dog that knows it has soiled the carpet—shoulders hunched, footsteps placed with deliberate softness, eyes sliding sideways in search of witnesses. It is movement defined by what it seeks to avoid, a secret too dishonorable to speak aloud.
Etymology
From Middle English sculke, skulke, skulken, of North Germanic origin; compare Danish skulke (“shirk”), Swedish skolka (“play truant”).
noun
- A group of foxes.e.g.“A skulk of foxes, a cowardice of curs are tonight’s traffic whispering in the yards and lanes.” — 1973, Thomas Pynchon, chapter 1, in Gravity's Rainbow, 1st US edition, New York: Viking Press, →ISBN:
- A group of people seen as being fox-like (e.g. cunning, dishonest, or having nefarious plans).e.g.“[…] a skulk of priests flapped out of the Church of San Geronimo, and women kneeling at novena put away their beads […]” — 1972, R. M. Koster, chapter 43, in The Prince,, New York: Morrow, page 320:
- The act of skulking.; The act of moving in a stealthy or furtive way.e.g.“A part of their company, who had been sent out on a skulk, had not returned, and great anxiety was felt lest they had fallen into an ambush and been captured.” — 1857, Jacob S. C. Abbott, History of King Philip, Sovereign Chief of the Wampanoags, New York: Harper, Chapter , p. 369:
- The act of skulking.; A stealthy or furtive gait or way of moving.e.g.“His gait was something between a slouch and a skulk.” — 1987, Lloyd Alexander, chapter 5, in The Illyrian Adventure, New York: Dell, page 32:
- The act of skulking.; The act of avoiding an obligation or responsibility.
- One who avoids an obligation or responsibility.e.g.“.”
verb
- To stay where one cannot be seen, conceal oneself (often in a cowardly way or with the intent of doing harm).
- To move in a stealthy or furtive way; to come or go while trying to avoid detection.e.g.“The residue like vnto the bare arssed rebels sculked to and fro; but in the end, they and the others were all dispersed, & durst not to appeare.” — 1577, Raphaell Holinshed, The Firste Volume of the Chronicles of England, Scotlande, and Irelande […], volume I, London: […] [Henry Bynneman] for Iohn Harrison, →OCLC, page 142:
- To avoid an obligation or responsibility.e.g.“Let discipline employ her wholesome arts,
Let magistrates alert perform their parts,
Not skulk or put on a prudential mask,
As if their duty were a desp’rate task;” — 1781 (date written), William Cowper, “Table Talk”, in Poems, London: […] J[oseph] Johnson, […], published 1782, →OCLC, page 17:
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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