rabbit
Americannoun
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rabbits,
plural
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rabbit
plural
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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.
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any of various small hares.
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the fur of a rabbit or hare, often processed to imitate another fur.
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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.
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British Informal. a person who is poor at sports, especially golf, tennis, or cricket.
idioms
noun
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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
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the fur of such an animal
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informal a novice or poor performer at a game or sport
verb
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(intr) to hunt or shoot rabbits
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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
Inflected Forms
Nouns
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.
See Examples For:
It was going down rabbit hole after rabbit hole on the internet, and it was so fun.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 12, 2026
But there was this one day I went down this one rabbit hole where his former roommate in college talked about him living in a closet under the stairs like Harry Potter.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 12, 2026
Translated: “If your drive’s perfect, but you can’t find the ball, it’s gone down a rabbit hole.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 25, 2026
Walking was akin to avoiding land mines, stepping around and over rabbit holes and sheep manure.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 25, 2026
A rabbit scurries past, hopping in the opposite direction as fast as its legs can stretch.
From "Wayward Creatures" by Dayna Lorentz
Its outlined forms of three rabbits and a deer either take shape out of Hua’s smoky ink washes or evanesce into them, a depiction of ecological destruction that seems contemporary.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 17, 2026
The mathematical path to understanding relationships starts in an unexpected place: with rabbits.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 7, 2026
And in its forests and on its grasslands, tule elk and mule deer graze, while bobcats and coyotes hunt for rabbits and mountain beavers.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 16, 2026
Around Easter, Lindt is known for its chocolate rabbits wrapped in gold-coloured foil and decorated with a red ribbon and bell on their necks.
From BBC ● Jul. 21, 2026
We passed a family of rabbits grazing on clover; a groundhog; a deer and her fawn.
From "The Old Willis Place" by Mary Downing Hahn
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
