jack·rab·bit

(jăk′răb′ĭt)

n. or jack rabbit

Any of several large, long-eared, long-legged hares of the genus Lepus.

intr.v. jack·rab·bit·ed, jack·rab·bit·ing, jack·rab·bits

To move or begin to move rapidly or suddenly: "A rear tire blew out and the car jackrabbited out of control" (Sonny Kleinfield).

adj.

Moving or beginning to move in a sudden, rapid manner: won the race with a jackrabbit start.

[jack(ass) (from its long ears) + rabbit.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

jack′ rab`bit

any of various large hares of W North America, having long hind legs and long ears.

[1860–65; jack (ass) + rabbit; so named from the size of its ears]

jack•rab•bit

(ˈdʒækˌræb ɪt)

adj.

1. resembling a jack rabbit, as in suddenness or rapidity of movement.

v.i.

2. to go or start forward with a rapid, sudden movement.

[1925–30]

hare, rabbit, jackrabbit - Hares live in the open and bear young that have fur at birth, while rabbits live in burrows and bear young that are naked at birth; jackrabbits are hares, not rabbits.

See also related terms for naked.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun	1.	jackrabbit - large hare of western North America genus Lepus, Lepus - type genus of the Leporidae: hares hare - swift timid long-eared mammal larger than a rabbit having a divided upper lip and long hind legs; young born furred and with open eyes Lepus townsendi, whitetail jackrabbit, white-tailed jackrabbit - largest hare of northern plains and western mountains of United States; brownish-grey in summer and pale grey in winter; tail nearly always all white blacktail jackrabbit, Lepus californicus - the common jackrabbit of grasslands and open areas of western United States; has large black-tipped ears and black streak on the tail
Verb	1.	jackrabbit - go forward or start with a fast, sudden movement jump, startle, start - move or jump suddenly, as if in surprise or alarm; "She startled when I walked into the room"

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

A big jackrabbit crossed our path, leaping swiftly and silently like a deer.

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This part of the country was too settled for large game, but Billy kept Saxon supplied with squirrels and quail, cottontails and jackrabbits, snipe and wild ducks.

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"It's a great, great, great day to be a Jackrabbit," said South Dakota State coach Aaron Johnston, who suffered a fat lip in the postgame celebration.

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It was just another day when 74-year-old Tex Harold Gilligan, of Dona Ana Count, New Mexico, USA, decided to go out jackrabbit hunting with his three dogs Charlie, Scooter and Cowboy.

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Valdez, Santiago, Dy, Mika Reyes, Aby Marano and Denden Lazaro formed the starting unit that got Team Phl to a jackrabbit 9-2 start.

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To achieve that jackrabbit start, LeBron went 4-for-4 from the field for 11 points in a perfect first quarter, proceeding to finish once more in the 40s with his game-high 44 points in 41 minutes.

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The Tehuantepec jackrabbit, Lepus flavigularis (Wagner, 1844), is a endemic species to Oaxaca, Mexico, whose distribution has been reduced to only four isolated populations with less than 1 000 individuals; so that has been listed as an endangered species (Lorenzo, Cervantes, Barragan, & Vargas, 2006; Smith, 2008; IUCN 2015; Lorenzo, Rioja-Paradela, & Carrillo-Reyes, 2015).

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A dangerous but mythical animal of Native American folklore described as a jackrabbit with antlers

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Hard work and the cowboy life on the 6B's Ranch is nothing new to old jackrabbit Hitchin' Post.

Hitchin' Post