rabbit (1), rabet, rabbet

[Adimin. from an older word only found in O. Dut. rob be a rabbit. ( Skeat.)] I. Lit. & Zool.: Lepus cuniculus , a well-known burrowing rodent, with a very wide geographical range. It probably had its home in the western portion of Mediterranean basin, but has spread over western Europe, Britain, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand and America. The rabbit is smaller than the bare (qv) its muzzle is slendererd and palate larger and narrower. The feet are shorter, the former with a smaller black tip (in some cases it is entirely absent), and the general color is grayer. They begin to breed at six months old, and several litters each year. young-usually from five to eight in number-are born blind and naked, and are produced in a separate burrow. Domesticated rabbits have been greatly modified by the skill of the breeder; they have increased in size and vary in color, albinoes being very common, and forming a separate race. Rabbits form an important article of food. II. Fig .: A horse which cannot always be depended upon to run well. (Racing slang.) "Milan, though somewhat of a rabbit , as a horse that runs 'in and out' is sometimes called."-London Standard. Welsh rabbit : Cheese melted by heat, and mixed with a little cream, or toasted and laid in thin layers on slices of bread, toasted and buttered. Generally considered to be a corruption of Welsh rarebit. rabbit-berry, s. Bot.: Shepherd i a argentea . rabbit-eared per a me les, s. Zool.: Macrotis lagotis , the native rabbit of the Swan River district. It is about the size of a common rabbit, and has a long pointed muzzle, naked at the top; ears long, oval, tubular at the base; eye small, tail somewhat shorter than body. rabbit-fish, s. Ichthy.: Chimæra monstrosa. [CHIMERA, 2.] rabbit-hutch, s. A hutch or box for keeping tame rabbits in. rabbit-like reithrodon, s . [REITHRODON.] rabbit-root, s. Bot.: Aralia nudicaul is . rabbit-spout, s. A rabbit-hole. ( Prov .) "Here they turn left-handed, and run him into a rabbit-spout in the gorse."- Field , Feb. 27, 1886. *rabbit-sucker, s. A sucking rabbit; a young IMG:content-0138.png:[blocks in formation] IMG:content-0139.png:[blocks in formation]