foxhole

noun

1. The burrow in the ground where a fox lives.
2. A small pit dug into the ground as a shelter for protection against enemy fire.

   “The statement made during the Second World War that “there are no atheists in foxholes” is absurd. Foxholes teem with atheists—who, to be sure, frequently infringe the Third Commandment in their desperation.”

   “Four pilots from the St. Lo, returning from a strike, land at the Dulag Airstrip and are promptly handed carbines, given a foxhole, and told to help repel a Japanese infantry counterattack. With that job done, with the aid of some stacked boxes and buckets full of petrol, they rearm and repair their aircraft, and then head back out to land on other ships.”

verb

1. (transitive)To dig a military foxhole into, or convert into a foxhole by digging.

   “Trogh and Charlie have started foxholing one corner of our tent, and I helped them a little.”

   “The line was not foxholed in. This is one weakness of the Nungs. They resent digging and so they do not carry entrenching tools into the field.”

2. (transitive)To drive into a military foxhole.

   “[…] the vet recalled with terrible anguish a scene where he and his friend had been foxholed several dozen yards apart, with a small group of enemy soldiers (Viet Cong) coming toward them over the crest of a hill.”