rabbit

• POS: Noun, Verb (intransitive)
• HYPHEN: rab=bit

CIDE DICTIONARY

rabbit, n. [OE. rabet, akin to OD. robbe, robbeken.].

 Any of the smaller species of the genus Lepus, especially the common European species (Lepus cuniculus), which is often kept as a pet, and has been introduced into many countries. It is remarkably prolific, and has become a pest in some parts of Australia and New Zealand.  [1913 Webster]
" The common American rabbit (Lepus sylvatica) is similar but smaller. See Cottontail, and Jack rabbit, under 2d Jack. The larger species of Lepus are commonly called hares. See Hare."  [1913 Webster]

Angora rabbit (Zoöl.), a variety of the domestic rabbit having long, soft fur. -- Rabbit burrow, a hole in the earth made by rabbits for shelter and habitation. -- Rabbit fish. (Zoöl.) (a) The northern chimæra (Chimæra monstrosa). (b) Any one of several species of plectognath fishes, as the bur fish, and puffer. The term is also locally applied to other fishes. -- Rabbits' ears. (Bot.) See Cyclamen.<-- a type of antenna with two long narrow metal prongs, usually arranged so as to remeniscent of erect rabbit's ears. --> -- Rabbit warren, a piece of ground appropriated to the breeding and preservation of rabbits. Wright. -- Rock rabbit. (a) (Zoöl.) See Daman, and Klipdas. (b) the pika. -- Welsh rabbit, a dish of which the chief constituents are melted cheese over toasted bread, flavored in various ways, as with ale, beer, milk, or spices. The name is popularly said to be a corruption of Welsh rare bit, but it is probably merely a humorous designation; -- also called Welsh rarebit.

OXFORD DICTIONARY

rabbit, n. & v.
--n.
1 a any of various burrowing gregarious plant-eating mammals of the hare family, esp. Oryctolagus cuniculus, with long ears and a short tail, varying in colour from brown in the wild to black and white, and kept as a pet or for meat. b US a hare. c the fur of the rabbit.
2 Brit. colloq. a poor performer in any sport or game.
--v.intr. (rabbited, rabbiting)
1 hunt rabbits.
2 (often foll. by on, away) Brit. colloq. talk excessively or pointlessly; chatter (rabbiting on about his holiday).

Idiom

rabbit punch a short chop with the edge of the hand to the nape of the neck. rabbit warren an area in which rabbits have their burrows, or are kept for meat etc.

Derivative

rabbity adj.

Etymology

ME perh. f. OF: cf. F dial. rabotte, Walloon rob{egrave}te, Flem. robbe

THESAURUS

rabbit

Belgian hare, Chiroptera, Hydra, Lagomorpha, Primates, Rodentia, buck, bunny, cottontail, doe, hare, hotbed, jackrabbit, lapin, leporide, leveret, milk cow, mustard, rich soil, seed plot, warren

ROGET THESAURUS

rabbit

Productiveness

N productiveness, fecundity, fertility, luxuriance, uberty, pregnancy, pullulation, fructification, multiplication, propagation, procreation, superfetation, milch cow, rabbit, hydra, warren, seed plot, land flowing with milk and honey, second crop, aftermath, aftercrop, aftergrowth, arrish, eddish, rowen, protoplasm, fertilization, productive, prolific, teeming, teemful, fertile, fruitful, frugiferous, fruit-bearing, fecund, luxuriant, pregnant, uberous, procreant, procreative, generative, life-giving, spermatic, multiparous, omnific, propagable, parturient, profitable.