foxbench

F4O1X8B3E1N1C3H4

noun

A hard, crumbly or sandy, irony, undesirable variety of soil found in some places in the UK.

Scrabble 25
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

nounfoxbench (uncountable)
  1. uncountableA hard, crumbly or sandy, irony, undesirable variety of soil found in some places in the UK.

    Foxbench is iron ore or oxide, which crumbles to pieces when exposed to the air; but is hard and rocky when under the soil, and is more injurious to trees than rammel, as it cannot be penetrated by their roots.

    1831, John Claudius Loudon, An Encyclopædia of Agriculture: Comprising the Theory and Practice of the Valuation, Transfer, Laying Out, Improvement, and Management of Landed Property; and the Cultivation and Economy of the Animal and Vegetable Productions of Agriculture, Including All the Latest Improvements; a General History of Agriculture in All Countries; and a Statistical View of Its Present State, with Suggestions for Its Future Progress in the British Isles, page 1163
    3 more examples

    ... foxbench is one of the greatest enemies the farmer has to contend with, in the management of his land. He has no better remedy against its bad effects than digging through, and throwing it on the surface, where it will soon be[…]

    1808, Sir Henry Holland, Great Britain. Board of Agriculture, General View of the Agriculture of Cheshire: With Observations Drawn Up for the Consideration of the Board of Agriculture and Internal Improvement, page 9

    ... [rammel,] foxbench, gravel, and red rock: the rammel is a hard argillaceous substance, very unfavourable to the vegetation on the surface; as also, in a still greater degree, is the foxbench: this lies in beds of from six inches to three[…]

    1840, Samuel Lewis, A to C, page 513

    ... foxbench is a semi hard or even soft formation of rust and dark brown coloured sandstone through which moisture drains very quickly; because of this we had to prepare the soil for the polyanthas which like a cool root run.

    1972, National Auricula and Primula Society. Northern Section, Year Book of the National Auricula Society (Northern Section)
Cite this entry
APA

foxbench. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/foxbench

MLA

“foxbench.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/foxbench. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “foxbench,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/foxbench.

Source: foxbench on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.