bunny

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

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA^(key): /ˈbʌni/
• Rhymes: -ʌni
• Hyphenation: bun‧ny

Etymology 1

From bun (“rabbit”) +‎ -y (diminutive suffix). Probably from Scottish Gaelic bun (“bottom, butt, stump, stub”), from Old Irish bun (“the thick end of anything, base, butt, foot”), from Proto-Celtic *bonus, though its origin is uncertain. Compare also English bum. Together with rabbit, bunny has largely displaced its former rhyme cony (see cony for more).

Noun

bunny (plural bunnies)

1. (informal, childish) A rabbit, especially a juvenile one.
2. A bunny girl: a nightclub waitress who wears a costume having rabbit ears and tail.
3. (sports) In basketball, an easy shot (i.e., one right next to the bucket) that is missed.
4. (slang, euphemistic) A menstrual pad.
5. (cricket) Synonym of rabbit (“batsman frequently dismissed by the same bowler”)

Derived terms

Translations

Adjective

bunny (comparative bunnier, superlative bunniest)

1. (skiing) Easy or unchallenging.

Synonyms

• (easy or unchallenging): nursery

Etymology 2

From Middle English bony, boni (“swelling, tumor”), from Old French bugne, buigne (“swelling, lump”), from Old Frankish *bungjo (“swelling, bump”), from Proto-Germanic *bungô, *bunkô (“lump, clump, heap, crowd”). More at bunion, bunch.

Alternative forms

• bunney, bonie

Noun

bunny (plural bunnies)

1. (UK dialectal) A swelling from a blow; a bump.
2. (mining) A sudden enlargement or mass of ore, as opposed to a vein or lode.

Etymology 3

From Middle English bune (“hollow stalk or stem, drinking straw”), from Old English bune (“cup, beaker, drinking vessel; reed, cane”), of unknown origin. Related to English bun, boon (“the stalk of flax or hemp less the fibre”), Scots bune, boon, been, see bun, boon. Compare also bunweed.

Noun

bunny (plural bunnies)

1. (UK dialectal) A culvert or short covered drain connecting two ditches.
2. (UK dialectal) A chine or gully formed by water running over the edge of a cliff; a wooded glen or small ravine opening through the cliff line to the sea.
3. (UK dialectal) Any small drain or culvert.
4. (UK dialectal) A brick arch or wooden bridge, covered with earth across a drawn or carriage in a water-meadow, just wide enough to allow a hay-wagon to pass over.
5. (UK dialectal) A small pool of water.

Etymology 4

Noun

bunny (plural bunnies)

1. (South Africa) Bunny chow; a snack of bread filled with curry.

Etymology 5

From bun (“small bread roll”) +‎ -y.

Adjective

bunny (comparative more bunny or bunnier, superlative most bunny or bunniest)

1. (rare, humorous) Resembling a bun (small bread roll). [since the 1960s, but always rare]

Synonyms

• (resembling a bun): bunlike