rabbit
Forms
- Plural
- rabbits
- present (v1)
- rabbit
- past (v2)
- rabbited
- past participle (v3)
- rabbited
- present participle
- rabbiting
- 3rd person singular
- rabbits
Definitions
1.A mammal of most genera of the family Leporidae, with long ears, long hind legs and a short, fluffy tail. (Those of the larger kind are instead called hares)
- The pioneers survived by eating the small game they could get: rabbits, squirrels and occasionally a raccoon.
2.The meat from this animal.
- She was cooking rabbit stew for dinner.
3.A runner in a distance race whose goal is mainly to set the pace, either to tire a specific rival so that a teammate can win or to help another break a record; a pacesetter.
4.The fur of a rabbit typically used to imitate another animal's fur.
1.To flee.
- The informant seemed skittish, as if he was about to rabbit.
- When the three friends heard someone behind them yell, "police, freeze!" they each rabbited in a different direction.
2.To talk incessantly and in a childish manner; to babble annoyingly.
- Stop your infernal rabbiting! Use proper words or nobody will listen to you!
- Ah start tae feel her up, while rabbitin a load ay shite ahoot how we huv tae stick thegither at a time like this.
3.Confound; damn; drat.
- LORD D. There, Dick, d'ye hear how the tutorer talks? oh rabbit it! he can ladle you out of latin by the quart;, and grunts greek like a pig.
4.To hunt rabbits.
Frequency
Overall
Rare· #4521
By learning goal
- Everyday conversation
- Rare
- General reading & writing
- Rare
- Academic
- Rare
- Literature
- Rare
Etymology
Inherited from Middle English rabet, rabette, from Anglo-Latin rabettus, from dialectal Old French rabotte, probably a diminutive of Middle Dutch or West Flemish robbe (“rabbit, seal”), of uncertain origin; possibly some imitative verb, maybe robben, rubben (“to rub”) is used here to allude to a characteristic of the animal. See rub.