jackrabbit

American  

[jak-rab-it] / ˈdʒækˌræb ɪt /

adjective

1. resembling a jack rabbit, as in suddenness or rapidity of movement.

   The car made a jackrabbit start when the traffic light turned green.

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verb (used without object)

1. to go or start forward with a rapid, sudden movement.

Etymology

Origin of jackrabbit

First recorded in 1925–30; jack rabbit

Example Sentences

We have to go to a dark place—a very dark place indeed—a place where few badgers and only a handful of weasels and absolutely no jackrabbits have ever gone before.

From Literature

Her laugh was the bouncy kind that starts somewhere in the pit of the stomach and leaps up the body like a jackrabbit, finally coming to rest around the eyes.

From Literature

Deliveries were made five times daily, thanks to a fleet-footed army of postal workers who whisked the mail from here to there before one could say jackrabbit.

From Literature

Besides its namesake, the Chuckwalla lizard, the area is home to bighorn sheep, desert tortoises, kangaroo rats, burrowing owls and jackrabbits.

From Los Angeles Times

He offered his comrades free lessons in hand-to-hand combat and bonded with them in the backcountry hunting jackrabbits.

From Salon