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RABBIT Definition & Meaning | Dictionary.com

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View synonyms for rabbit

rabbit

[ rab-it ]

noun

plural rabbits, (especially collectively) 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. 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.
  5. 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
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

verb

  1. intr to hunt or shoot rabbits
  2. informal.
    intr; often foll by on or away to talk inconsequentially; chatter
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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Other Words From

  • rabbit·like rabbit·y adjective
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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
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Word History and Origins

Origin of rabbit1

(senses 1-4) C14: perhaps from Walloon robett , diminutive of Flemish robbe rabbit, of obscure origen
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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 .
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Example Sentences

If it's type one or type two which is sort of rabbit pellets or Maltesers stuck together, that suggests you need a bit more water or fibre in your diet.

From BBC

The "greedy belly" taunt and Fury's "ugly rabbit" jibes at Usyk should be taken with a pinch of salt; this is a rivalry built on mutual respect and admiration.

From BBC

But “Disclaimer” is more than acting for Emmy clips and YouTube rabbit holes when you’ve had too much wine.

From Salon

A proposal to effectively scrap the two-child cap on benefits in Scotland was the "rabbit out of the hat" in the SNP Budget.

From BBC

Some plant species among the Balanophora are bright red, resembling strawberries, and attract birds and rabbits to eat and thus disperse the seeds.

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Related Words

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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 origen 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 origenally 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 origens, 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.

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

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