rabbit

noun

• a burrowing, gregarious, plant-eating mammal with long ears, long hind legs, and a short tail.

  • Family Leporidae: several genera and species, in particular the European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus), which is often kept as a pet or raised for food
• the flesh of the rabbit as food.
• the fur of the rabbit.
• North Americananother term for hare.
• US a runner who acts as pacesetter in the first laps of a race.

verb (rabbits, rabbiting, rabbited)

• 1 (usually as noun rabbiting) hunt rabbits:locate the area where you can go rabbiting

• 2British informal talk at length, especially about trivial matters:stop rabbiting on, will you, and go to bed!

  [from rabbit and pork, rhyming slang for 'talk']