rabbit

[rab-it]

noun

plural

rabbits ,

plural

rabbit .

1. any of several soft-furred, large-eared, rodentlike burrowing mammals of the family Leporidae, allied with the hares and pikas in the order Lagomorpha, having a divided upper lip and long hind legs, usually smaller than the hares and mainly distinguished from them by bearing blind and furless young in nests rather than fully developed young in the open.

2. any of various small hares.

3. the fur of a rabbit or hare, often processed to imitate another fur.

4. Welsh rabbit.

5. a runner in a distance race whose goal is chiefly to set a fast pace, either to exhaust a particular rival so that a teammate can win or to help another entrant break a record; pacesetter.

6. British Informal.,  a person who is poor at sports, especially golf, tennis, or cricket.

rabbit

/ ˈræbɪt /

noun

1. any of various common gregarious burrowing leporid mammals, esp Oryctolagus cuniculus of Europe and North Africa and the cottontail of America. They are closely related and similar to hares but are smaller and have shorter ears

2. the fur of such an animal

3. informal,  a novice or poor performer at a game or sport

verb

1. (intr) to hunt or shoot rabbits

2. informal,  (intr; often foll by on or away) to talk inconsequentially; chatter

Other Word Forms

• rabbitlike adjective
• rabbity adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of rabbit¹

1375–1425; late Middle English rabet ( te ) young rabbit, bunny, probably < Old North French; compare Walloon robett, dialectal Dutch robbe

Word History and Origins

Origin of rabbit¹

(senses 1-4) C14: perhaps from Walloon robett , diminutive of Flemish robbe rabbit, of obscure origin

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. pull a rabbit out of the hat, to find or obtain a sudden solution to a problem.

   Unless somebody pulls a rabbit out of the hat by next week, we'll be bankrupt.

see pull (a rabbit) out of a hat.

Example Sentences

Intrigued, the French writer dives into a rabbit hole and discovers the name belongs to a member of the French Resistance.

From Los Angeles Times

Kennedy is probably the world’s most famous vaccine skeptic, having spent years wallowing in the rabbit hole of dark conspiracy theories.

From Salon

Gordon's tackle was symptomatic of how Newcastle were not in control of their emotions, despite the fact Liverpool had looked like rabbits in the headlights at the slightest sign of pressure.

From BBC

I was reminded of a passage of a book I recently scored on eBay while consumed in my twice-yearly Madonna rabbit hole, “Madonna’s Drowned Worlds: New Approaches to her Cultural Transformations.”

From Salon

"We already had three rabbits, four cats and two dogs, and now the horse, so they all moved here," 59-year-old Louise recalls.

From BBC

Related Words

• bunny 
• coney 
• cony 
• hare 
• lagomorph 
• lapin 

When To Use

Where does rabbit come from?

There's just something about the names of some of the most familiar animals. Like dog, the origin of the word rabbit is obscure. But, at least we are few hops closer to a source with rabbit than we are with dog.Found in Middle English, rabbit originally meant "young rabbit, bunny," and was most likely borrowed from a French word. Scholars point us to the Walloon robett and the dialectical Dutch robbe. But from there, it’s an etymological rabbit hole.Walloon is a French dialect chiefly spoken in southern and southeastern Belgium and neighboring regions in France.Unsure about the difference between a rabbit and a hare? We've got you covered!