rabbit

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   A mammal of most genera of the family Leporidae, with long ears, long hind legs and a short, fluffy tail.

   The pioneers survived by eating the small game they could get: rabbits, squirrels and occasionally a raccoon.

2. 2
   noun

   The meat from this animal.

   She was cooking rabbit stew for dinner.

3. 3
   noun

   A batsman who is frequently dismissed by the same bowler (said to be that player's rabbit).

   Glenn McGrath dismissed Michael Atherton a record 19 times; hence Atherton is McGrath's rabbit.

4. 4
   noun

   Rarebit; Welsh rabbit or a similar dish: melted cheese served atop toast.

   The cheese mixture may be served with toast on the side or poured on top of toast and grilled until golden brown and bubbling. Other variations include Buck rabbit, a Welsh rabbit with a poached egg on top, and Yorkshire rabbit with bacon ...

5. 5
   noun

   A pneumatically-controlled tool used to insert small samples of material inside the core of a nuclear reactor.

   This rabbit is constructed such that only that fraction of the beam that passes through the 15g-in. diameter target container reaches the Faraday cup behind the rabbit.

6. 6
   noun

   A vibrator with a shaft and a clitoral stimulator usually shaped like a rabbit's ears.

   Rabbits come in many forms/In colors, shapes and sizes./ They satisfy a lady's needs,/Indulging her sweet vices.

7. 7
   verb

   To flee.

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

8. 8
   verb

   To talk incessantly and in a childish manner; to babble annoyingly.

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

Etymology

From Middle English rabet, rabette, from Anglo-Latin rabettus, from dialectal Old French rabotte, probably a diminutive of Middle Dutch or West Flemish robbe (“rabbit, seal”), of uncertain origin; possibly some imitative verb, maybe robben, rubben (“to rub”) is used here to allude to a characteristic of the animal. See rub. Related forms include Middle French rabouillet (“baby rabbit”) and in French rabot (“plane”)), coming via Walloon Old French (reflected nowadays as Walloon robète (“rabbit”)), from Middle Dutch robbe ("rabbit; seal"; whence Modern Dutch rob (“rabbit", also "seal”)); also Mi…