rabbit

rabbit — noun

1. a small furry creature with upright ears, powerful hind legs for leaping, and a

1.nounA1
Definition

a small furry creature with upright ears, powerful hind legs for leaping, and a tiny rounded tail. wild rabbits dig tunnels under the earth, while domestic ones live in hutches or indoors. People also eat their meat, calling it simply 'rabbit'.

Example

Eshe's pet rabbit, Snowball, loves to hop around the garden every evening.

pet rabbit + affectionate name

The farmer raises rabbits both for their meat and for selling as pets.

raised for meat and as pets

Common collocations
  • pet rabbit
  • wild rabbit
  • baby rabbit
  • rabbit hole
  • rabbit burrow
  • rabbit stew
  • raise rabbits
  • breed rabbits
Synonyms
  • bunny

    informal, affectionate term, used especially by children or for pet rabbits

  • hare

    a different species — larger body, longer ears and legs, lives above ground in shallow nests

  • cottontail

    a common type of rabbit in North America, named for its white fluffy tail

Grammar Patterns

countable noun (the animal)

uncountable noun (the meat)

Usage Note

When referring to the animal, rabbit is countable ('I saw two rabbits in the field'). When referring to the meat eaten as food, rabbit is uncountable ('We had rabbit for dinner last night').

Common Mistakes

I ate rabbit meat for dinner last night.
I ate rabbit for dinner last night.
When referring to food, you can say 'rabbit' alone without adding 'meat'; the uncountable noun already covers the meat sense.
A hare is a type of rabbit.
A hare is a different animal from a rabbit.
Hares are larger, have longer ears, and live above ground in nests rather than in burrows.

2. the soft hair taken from a rabbit's body, prepared and used for making clothing,

2.nounB1
Definition

the soft hair taken from a rabbit's body, prepared and used for making clothing, hats, gloves, and similar goods.

Example

Lucía bought a warm jacket lined with soft rabbit fur for the winter.

rabbit fur lining

The vintage coat has a collar made of rabbit fur from the 1950s.

Common collocations
  • rabbit fur
  • rabbit-fur coat
  • rabbit-fur trim
  • rabbit-fur lining
  • rabbit pelt
  • synthetic rabbit fur
Synonyms
  • bunny fur

    informal term, often used in the fashion or toy industry

  • coney fur

    archaic term for rabbit fur, sometimes still used in the fur trade

Grammar Patterns

uncountable noun (the fur as a material)

Usage Note

Rabbit fur is always uncountable when referring to the material. It is often used in compound nouns such as 'rabbit-fur coat' or 'rabbit-fur trim'.

Common Mistakes

She wore a rabbit coat.
She wore a rabbit-fur coat.' or 'She wore a coat made of rabbit fur.
'Rabbit' alone does not specify the material; you need 'rabbit fur' or 'rabbit-fur' as a modifier.
Idioms

breed like rabbits

idiom

to produce babies or young in very large numbers and at a very fast rate.

The stray cats in the neighbourhood bred like rabbits, and soon there were dozens of kittens everywhere.

pull a rabbit out of the hat

idiom

to suddenly produce an unexpected solution to a difficult problem, as if by magic.

With the company about to go bankrupt, the CEO pulled a rabbit out of the hat and secured a huge investment from an overseas partner.

down the rabbit hole

idiom

into a situation that is strange, confusing, or difficult to escape from, especially one that becomes increasingly complex.

She started reading one article about the history of the castle and fell down a rabbit hole of medieval research that lasted all weekend.

pull something/a rabbit out of the hat

idiom

To unexpectedly provide a clever solution or something needed.

Mina pulled a rabbit out of the hat and fixed the server.

Did the team pull a rabbit out of the hat to win the game?

rabbit — verb

Word family

  • bunny
    nounA2
  • rabbitry
    nounC2

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Rabbit, hare, bunny, and cottontail all refer to long-eared mammals, but they differ in species, size, and formality. Rabbit is the general term for the common small-to-medium burrowing animal kept as a pet or found in the wild — the word covers both the wild European rabbit and domestic breeds. Hare refers to a distinctly larger animal with longer ears and stronger hind legs that does not burrow but lives above ground in shallow scrapes called forms. Bunny is an informal, affectionate term used especially by children or when speaking about pet rabbits; it would sound odd in a scientific description. Cottontail is a specific North American species named for its white fluffy tail. For example: 'The children named their pet rabbit Thumper' (not hare). 'A hare sprinted across the open meadow, far outpacing any rabbit' (size and behaviour difference). 'Look at the cute little bunny!' is fine for a pet but sounds childish in a wildlife documentary.

rabbit ↗hare ↗bunny ↗cottontail

Common collocations

Nouns

  • rabbit hutch
  • rabbit warren
  • rabbit breed
  • rabbit population
  • rabbit meat
  • rabbit fur

Phrases

Prepositions

  • rabbit in (a burrow/hole)
  • rabbit through (the grass/fence)
  • rabbit under (a bush/shed)

Etymology

Middle DutchFrenchEnglish

The word 'rabbit' entered English in the 1300s from Middle French 'rabotte' or Middle Dutch 'robbe', referring specifically to a young rabbit. The adult animal was originally called a 'cony' (from Latin 'cuniculus', via Old French 'conin'). Over several centuries, 'rabbit' gradually replaced 'cony' as the general name for the species, and by the 1800s 'cony' had mostly fallen out of everyday use. The phrase 'down the rabbit hole' comes from Lewis Carroll's 1865 novel 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'.