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; see origin at jack rabbit

Example Sentences

It features animals such as white-tailed deer, jackrabbit, alligator snapping turtle, lake sturgeon, blue jay and roseate spoonbill.

From BBC • Jul. 13, 2021

He never was a jackrabbit and seems content with the hundreds of other ways that we show love.

From Slate • Oct. 11, 2020

A future worry is that if rabbit and jackrabbit populations plummet, coyotes may hunt cattle instead, which might cause ranchers to use poison to kill the coyotes.

From Science Magazine • May 20, 2020

“This used to be jackrabbit heaven. There used to be sage grouse everywhere. You would find 50 sage grouse when you walked out the door. Now they are nearly extinct,” he said.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 11, 2019

Crows flapped off an occasional jackrabbit carcass; a black-and-white shrike sat on a fence post with a dead kangaroo rat dangling from under its talons; cows lumbered moodily off the dirt path into the sagebrush.

From "The Milagro Beanfield War" by John Nichols