rabbits
Also found in: Thesaurus, Medical, Acronyms, Idioms, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia.
rab·bit
(răb′ĭt)n. pl. rab·bits or rabbit
1. Any of various long-eared, short-tailed, burrowing mammals of the family Leporidae, such as the commonly domesticated species Oryctolagus cuniculus, native to Europe and widely introduced elsewhere, or the cottontail of the Americas.
2. A hare.
3. The flesh of a rabbit, used as food.
4. The fur of a rabbit or hare.
5. Sports
a. A competitor who is designated to set a fast pace for a teammate during a long-distance race.
b. A racehorse that is run at a fast pace early in a race in order to tire the favorite so that another horse can take the lead.
c. A mechanical decoy that is propelled around the track in a greyhound race to incite the dogs.
intr.v. rab·bit·ed, rab·bit·ing, rab·bits
To hunt rabbits or hares.
[Middle English rabet, young rabbit, probably from Old French, from Middle Dutch robbe, rabbit.]
rab′bit·er n.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
rabbits
- buck teeth - Large front teeth protruding over the others; the phrase may come from buck, the adult male of some animals, such as rabbits—which have this type of front teeth.
- hightail it - Refers to animals, such as mustangs and rabbits, that raise their tails high when fleeing danger.
- trattles - The rounded droppings of animals like rabbits and sheep.
- angora - As in cat, goat, and rabbit, it comes from the Turkish capital Angora (till 1930), now Ankara.
Farlex Trivia Dictionary. © 2012 Farlex, Inc. All rights reserved.