rabbit

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
rabbit/ˈrabɪt/

▶noun

• 1 a burrowing gregarious plant-eating mammal, with long ears, long hind legs, and a short tail. [Oryctolagus cuniculus and other species.]

  ■ the fur of the rabbit.

  ■ N. Amer. a hare.

• 2 informal a poor performer in a sport or game.

• 3 US a runner acting as pacesetter.

• 4 Brit. informal a conversation. [from rabbit and pork, rhyming sl. for ‘talk’.]

▶verb (rabbits, rabbiting, rabbited)

• 1 (usu. as noun rabbiting) hunt rabbits.

• 2 Brit. informal chatter.

– derivatives
rabbity adjective.

– origin ME: appar. from OFr. (cf. Fr. dial. rabotte ‘young rabbit’), perh. of Du. origin (cf. Flemish robbe).