rabbit

[ rab-it ]

noun

, plural rab·bits, (especially collectively) rab·bit

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 Words From

• rabbit·like rabbit·y 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.

More idioms and phrases containing rabbit

see pull (a rabbit) out of a hat .

Example Sentences

For instance a rabbit can be called not only a "rabbit" or a "bunny," but also an "animal," or a "beauty," and in some contexts even a "delicacy."

From Science Daily

The focus will be on head-to-head competition and not times, so there will be no rabbits or pacing lights.

From Los Angeles Times

Carl, a kind raccoon who loves to collect things, lives in a fictional world called Fuzzytown with his friends, including twin rabbits, a helpful beaver, a reserved fox and an energetic squirrel.

From Los Angeles Times

You might cringe at the word hustle, but that doesn't mean you have to go down a rabbit hole of vapid brofluencers.

From Salon

He said researching autism had become "yet another rabbit hole I've disappeared down".

From BBC

Related Words

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

More About Rabbit

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!

Did you know … ?

Because they have so many natural predators, rabbits are famously skittish animals. They can rotate their ears 180 degrees and can pinpoint sounds. Rabbits even use their own “language” of subtle facial twitches and other movements to warn their kin.

The word bunny is often used as an informal synonym of rabbit, as in Bugs Bunny is a rascally rabbit—er, wascally wabbit? The word hare is also commonly used to mean a rabbit, but the two words have different origins, not to mention the fact that they are separate species.

Rabbit is used in a number of idioms and phrases that reference the critter in some way, such as rabbit ears (indoor television antennae, if you remember those) or the expression to breed like rabbits, which alludes to the animal’s proficiency in … making more rabbits.