English · Idiom Historical

flay the fox

Preserved but no longer current.

Both English Tiếng Việt

Meaning · English

To vomit. Now replaced by the more popular "shoot the cat."

Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt

nôn mửa

Machine-translated — suggest a fix

Era: ca. 1874 (Victorian)

Where it’s used: Origin British & Irish English

Sources & notes

Historical definition reproduced from Hotten’s The Slang Dictionary (1874, public domain; Project Gutenberg #42108, retrieved 2026-07-31). Reflects the attitudes of its era.

Topics: Foxes Historical slang (1800s)

Common questions

What does “flay the fox” mean?

To vomit. Now replaced by the more popular "shoot the cat."

Is “flay the fox” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.

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