rabbit hole

[rab-it hohl]

noun

1. a tunnel made in the ground by a rabbit; a rabbit burrow.

2. Informal.,  a strange, disorienting, or frustrating situation or experience, typically one that is difficult to navigate: I have been down the rabbit hole of building a new home.

   I had a history of depression and occasionally fell down dark, deep rabbit holes from which only medication and therapy could pull me out.

   I have been down the rabbit hole of building a new home.

3. Informal.,  a time-consuming distraction of one's attention as happens when clicking through online links, following social media posts, or pursuing information.

   After diving down an internet rabbit hole and poring over treatments, risks, and so on, she felt even more panicked.

Word History and Origins

Origin of rabbit hole¹

First recorded in 1660–70; rabbit hole def. 2 was first recorded in 1935–40, from Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

Example Sentences

"People are still going online, going down rabbit holes," she said.

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The upcoming film will not be the first time she's gone down the rabbit hole of acting.

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Down down down the rabbit hole we go.

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At a local library, he goes down a rabbit hole of news stories about Charles Starkweather, the spree killer who inspired the film.

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But those trials would be designed to answer the medical community’s pressing questions, not to satisfy a bureaucratic checklist that can send companies down expensive rabbit holes.

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