rabbit

noun

/ˈɹæbɪt/UK/ˈɹæbət/

Etymology

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. Related forms include Middle French rabouillet (“baby rabbit”) and in French rabot (“plane”)), coming via Walloon Old French (reflected nowadays as Walloon robète (“rabbit”)), from Middle Dutch robbe ("rabbit; seal"; whence Modern Dutch rob (“rabbit", also "seal”)); also Middle Low German robbe, rubbe (“rabbit”), and the later German Low German Rubbe, Robb (“seal”), West Frisian robbe (“seal”), Saterland Frisian Rubbe (“seal”), North Frisian rob (“seal”), borrowed into German Robbe (“seal”). Meant "young rabbit" until the 19th c., when it came to replace the original general term cony, owing to the latter's resemblance to and use as a euphemism for cunny, "vulva" (compare ass and donkey). Note that there is no inherited Germanic word for rabbits, since hares are the only leporids native to Britain (as with all of Europe outside the Iberian Peninsula and southwest France); rabbits were introduced from France in the late Middle Ages, likely after the Norman Invasion. (Fittingly, hare is indeed inherited from Proto-Germanic.)

derived from robbe
derived from robbe — “rabbit, seal”
derived from rabotte
derived from rabettus
inherited from rabet

Definitions

1
A mammal of most genera of the family Leporidae, with long ears, long hind legs and a…
A mammal of most genera of the family Leporidae, with long ears, long hind legs and a short, fluffy tail.
- 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.
The fur of a rabbit typically used to imitate another animal's fur.
›+ 12 more definitionsshow fewer
1. A runner in a distance race whose goal is mainly to set the pace, either to tire a…
  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.
2. A very poor batsman, selected as a bowler or wicket-keeper.
3. 6
  A batsman who is frequently dismissed by the same bowler (said to be that player's…
  A batsman who is frequently dismissed by the same bowler (said to be that player's rabbit).
  - Glenn McGrath dismissed Michael Atherton a record 19 times; hence Atherton is McGrath's rabbit.
4. A large element at the beginning of a list of items to be bubble sorted, and thus tending…
  A large element at the beginning of a list of items to be bubble sorted, and thus tending to be quickly swapped into its correct position. Compare turtle.
5. 8
  Rarebit
  Rarebit; Welsh rabbit or a similar dish: melted cheese served atop toast.
  - CHEESE TOASTED, OR RABBIT.
  - Hannah Glasse offered recipes for Scotch, Welsh, and English rabbit. This is her Scotch rabbit: Toast a piece of bread very nicely […] Cut a slice of cheese, […]
6. 9
  A pneumatically-controlled tool used to insert small samples of material inside the core…
  A pneumatically-controlled tool used to insert small samples of material inside the core of a nuclear reactor.
  - This rabbit is constructed such that only that fraction of the beam that passes through the 15g-in. diameter target container reaches the Faraday cup behind the rabbit.
7. 10
  A vibrator with a shaft and a clitoral stimulator usually shaped like a rabbit's ears.
  - Rabbits come in many forms/In colors, shapes and sizes./ They satisfy a lady's needs,/Indulging her sweet vices.
  - First, she showed us the standard dildos before moving on to the rabbits—vibrators with little ears to stimulate the clit.
  - She reached into her night stand for some lubricant and her rabbit vibrator.
8. To hunt rabbits.
9. 12
  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.
10. 13
  To talk incessantly and in a childish manner
  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.
11. 14
  Confound
  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.
12. The fourth of the twelve-year cycle of animals which appear in the Chinese zodiac related…
  The fourth of the twelve-year cycle of animals which appear in the Chinese zodiac related to the Chinese calendar.

The neighborhood

synonymbunny
synonymbunny rabbit
synonymconey
synonymcony
neighborfluffle
neighborbunny rabbit
neighborbuck
neighborcottontail
neighbordoe
neighborhare
neighborkitten
neighborwarren

Vish — recursive loop

A definitional loop anchored at rabbit. Each word in the ring is defined by the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself. Scroll to it and watch.

A definitional loop anchored at rabbit. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.

9 hops · closes at rabbit

curated · pre-corpus. live cycle detection across the full graph is the next major milestone.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA

Etymology

Definitions

The neighborhood

Derived

Vish — recursive loop