word of the day: vulpine

The word of the day is vulpine:

Etymology:  < Latin vulpīn-us, < vulpēs fox

1. Characteristic of a fox; similar to that of a fox.

2.a. Resembling a fox; spec. in vulpine opossum or phalanger .

b. fig. Cunning, sly.3. Consisting of foxes.  

 4. Of or pertaining to a fox or foxes. (OED)

"Thanksgiving was still two weeks away when the Republican Party, to its evident shock, found itself stuffed, trussed, roasted, and ready to be served with all the trimmings. This was not the menu that the Party’s nominees, donors, and operatives had looked forward to. It was emphatically not the feast they had been primed to expect by their vulpine cheerleaders in the island universe of the illiberal media."

 - Hendrik Hertzberg, "Mandate with Destiny", 3 December 2012 The New Yorker


No, I still don't know what he means.