rabbit

English Online Dictionary. What means rabbit‎? What does rabbit mean?

English

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) enPR: răb'it, IPA^(key): /ˈɹæbɪt/
• Rhymes: -æbɪt
• (General Australian, weak vowel merger) enPR: răb'ət, IPA^(key): /ˈɹæbət/
• Homophone: rabbet

Etymology 1

From Middle English rabet, from Middle French dialect (compare French dialect rabbotte, rabouillet (“baby rabbit”)), from Walloon robète, diminutive of Middle Dutch robbe (“rabbit; seal”) (compare Dutch rob (“rabbit”), rob (“seal [sea mammal]”)), from Middle Low German robbe (“seal”) (compare dialectal Low German Rubb, Robb, German Robbe (“seal”)), from rubben (“to rub”). More at rub.

Noun

rabbit (plural rabbits)

1. A mammal of the family Leporidae, with long ears, long hind legs and a short, fluffy tail.
2. The fur of a rabbit typically used to imitate another animal's fur.
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. (cricket) A very poor batsman; selected as a bowler or wicket-keeper.
5. (computing theory) 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.

Synonyms

(animal):

• bunny (hypocoristic, colloquial, pet name)
• bunny rabbit (hypocoristic, colloquial, pet name)
• coney, cony (dialect)

Hyponyms

• bunny rabbit
• jackrabbit

Derived terms

• rabbiter
• rabbity

Related terms

Translations

Verb

rabbit (third-person singular simple present rabbits, present participle rabbitting or rabbiting, simple past and past participle rabbitted or rabbited)

1. (intransitive) To hunt rabbits.
2. (US, intransitive) To flee.

   The informant seemed skittish, as if he was about to rabbit.

Synonyms

• (to flee): run off, scamper, bolt

Translations

See also

Etymology 2

From Cockney rhyming slang rabbit and pork, to talk.

Verb

rabbit (third-person singular simple present rabbits, present participle rabbiting, simple past and past participle rabbited)

1. (Britain, intransitive) To talk incessantly and in a childish manner; to babble annoyingly.

   Stop your infernal rabbiting! Use proper words or nobody will listen to you!

   Commonly used in the form "to rabbit on"

Synonyms

• (to talk incessantly and childishly): babble, blather, prattle, Thesaurus:chatter, Thesaurus:talk

Translations

See also

• chew the fat
• chew the cud (British)
• shoot the breeze (US)

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Hungarian

Etymology

rabbi +‎ -t

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈrɒbːit]
• Hyphenation: rab‧bit

Noun

rabbit

1. accusative singular of rabbi