rabbit
Americannoun
-
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.
-
any of various small hares.
-
the fur of a rabbit or hare, often processed to imitate another fur.
-
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.
-
British Informal. a person who is poor at sports, especially golf, tennis, or cricket.
idioms
noun
-
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
-
the fur of such an animal
-
informal a novice or poor performer at a game or sport
verb
-
(intr) to hunt or shoot rabbits
-
informal (intr; often foll by on or away) to talk inconsequentially; chatter
Usage
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!
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of rabbit
1375–1425; late Middle English rabet ( te ) young rabbit, bunny, probably < Old North French; compare Walloon robett, dialectal Dutch robbe
Explanation
A rabbit is a small long-eared animal that is related to a hare. You can keep a rabbit as an indoor pet — just be careful, because it will chew on just about everything! Until the 1900s, an adult rabbit was called a coney, while the babies were rabets. The origin of this word, which eventually became rabbit, remains a mystery. In the wild, rabbits live in large, social groups in underground warrens. As pets, they require something to gnaw on because their teeth never stop growing and have to be regularly ground down. With their many predators, rabbits are naturally nervous, but when they're very relaxed, they purr like cats!
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Rabbit eyeballs were placed in a saline solution designed to mimic natural tears, and the platinum lens served as an electrode.
From Science Daily • May 28, 2026
Idle and DuPrez wrote some 40 songs for the musical, many of them at a small studio in the Valley which they dubbed Killer Rabbit Studios.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 23, 2026
And they told stories about characters like Br’er Rabbit and Anansi, tricksters who provided models for overcoming powerful oppressors.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 15, 2026
Rabbit vaccines are about £20 to £30 more expensive than the ones for dogs, states Alison.
From BBC • Sep. 16, 2025
Moody watched, half hidden by a tree, as she picked her way around to the Rabbit, which sat in the driveway with its doors thrown wide, and extracted the footboard from the backseat.
From "Little Fires Everywhere" by Celeste Ng
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.
