rabbit

rabbit
rabbit (n.) late 14c., "young of the coney," from French dialect (Cf. Walloon robète), dim. of Flemish or M.Du. robbe "rabbit," of unknown origin. "A Germanic noun with a French suffix" [Liberman]. The adult was a CONEY (Cf. coney) (q.v.) until 18c.
Zoologically speaking, there are no native rabbits in the United States; they are all hares. But the early colonists, for some unknown reason, dropped the word hare out of their vocabulary, and it is rarely heard in American speech to this day. When it appears it is almost always applied to the so-called Belgian hare, which, curiously enough, is not a hare at all, but a true rabbit. [H.L. Mencken]
Rabbit punch "chop on the back of the neck" so called from resemblance to a gamekeeper's method of dispatching an injured rabbit. Pulling rabbits from a hat as a conjurer's trick recorded by 1843. Rabbit's foot "good luck charm" first attested 1879, in U.S. Southern black culture. Earlier references are to its use as a tool to apply cosmetic powders.
[N]ear one of them was the dressing-room of the principal danseuse of the establishment, who was at the time of the rising of the curtain consulting a mirror in regard to the effect produced by the application of a rouge-laden rabbit's foot to her cheeks, and whose toilet we must remark, passim, was not entirely completed. ["New York Musical Review and Gazette," Nov. 29, 1856]

Etymology dictionary. 2014.

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Synonyms:
(Lepus cuniculus)


Look at other dictionaries:

  • Rabbit — Rab bit (r[a^]b b[i^]t), n. [OE. rabet, akin to OD. robbe, robbeken.] (Zo[ o]l.) 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 …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Rabbit — (englisch für Kaninchen) ist die Bezeichnung für: Rabbit (Algorithmus), eine Stromverschlüsselung Rabbit (Film), einen animierten Kurzfilm Rabbit Junk, eine US amerikanischen Band den VW Golf der ersten Generation in den Vereinigten Staaten… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • rabbit — • (rabbit and pork) • Rhyming Slang for talk . Used in it s short form. Popularized by the classic(?) Chas & Dave song Rabbit rabbit(?) . The phrase You ve got more rabbit than Sainsbury s also comes from the song. Normally applied to someone who …   Londonisms dictionary

  • rabbit — [rab′it] n. pl. rabbits or rabbit [ME rabette, young of the cony, prob. < MFr dial. rabotte < MDu robbe, Fl robbe] 1. any of various swift, burrowing mammals (order Lagomorpha), smaller than most hares and characterized by soft fur, long… …   English World dictionary

  • Rabbit — (Аджерола,Италия) Категория отеля: Адрес: Via S. Lorenzo I° Trav. 8/B, 80051 Аджерола, Италия …   Каталог отелей

  • Rabbit — est le nom d un robot développé par le CNRS dans le cadre du projet ROBEA, qui s arrêta en novembre 2004. Rabbit fut conçu pour étudier les problèmes suivants : Rôle de la gravité dans la marche Effet des impacts avec le sol Commutation des… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • rabbit — ► NOUN 1) a burrowing plant eating mammal, with long ears and a short tail. 2) N. Amer. a hare. 3) the fur of the rabbit. 4) informal a poor performer in a sport or game. ► VERB (rabbited, rabbiting) 1) …   English terms dictionary

  • Rabbit — (engl.), s. Welsh rabbit …   Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon

  • rabbit — The verb (= hunt rabbits or, usually as rabbit on = talk excessively) has inflected forms rabbited, rabbiting …   Modern English usage

  • rabbit — см. Приложение 1 (Oryctolagus cuniculus). (Источник: «Англо русский толковый словарь генетических терминов». Арефьев В.А., Лисовенко Л.А., Москва: Изд во ВНИРО, 1995 г.) …   Молекулярная биология и генетика. Толковый словарь.

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