Skulk
collective noun /skʌlk/ — What you call a group of foxes — named for the way they move, unseen until they're already gone.
Definition
The collective noun for a group of foxes — reflecting the fox's characteristic behaviour of moving quietly, staying low, and remaining unseen until the last moment.
Beyond the definition
Foxes are the tricksters of European folklore — clever, elusive, nocturnal. A skulk is a group you don't see until it's already past you. The word carries centuries of unease: something moving in the dark that knows more than it's letting on.
Origin & history
From Old Norse skulka — to lurk, to lie in wait. The word carries an undertone of deliberate concealment. Foxes hunt at night, travel along fence lines and hedgerows, and are rarely seen in the open by choice. A skulk is a group that doesn't want to be found.
Example sentences
Illustrative sentences for learning, not verified community posts or sourced quotations.
A skulk of urban foxes had been raiding the same garden for three winters.
She caught a glimpse of the skulk at 4am — four pairs of eyes in the hedge, then nothing.
The cubs played on the railway embankment while the rest of the skulk stayed hidden.
Synonyms
group, pack, earth, leash
Related words
Word in the Wild
See how this word appears in life, language and stories.
Illustrative sentences and imagined stories for learning — not verified sightings, interviews, or sourced quotations.
Word in focus
A skulk of foxes
Two foxes resting together on the grass.
Here, “skulk” names the whole gathering. Notice the animals together rather than looking for one individual with that name. The photograph illustrates the group; it is not evidence that this particular scene inspired the expression.
Image credit: Ken Billington · CC BY-SA 3.0 (license)
Resized and converted to WebP; displayed with a fitted crop.