hare

/heə/

Thân thiện

A chef prepares a roast hare with vegetables for a special dinner.

Definition

1. Noun:

   • A swift, timid mammal: A hare is a fast-running, long-eared mammal similar to but typically larger than a rabbit. It has long hind legs, a divided upper lip, and its young are born fully furred with open eyes.
   • The meat of this animal: Hare can also refer to the flesh of this animal used as food.

2. Verb:

   • To run very fast: To hare means to run or move swiftly and suddenly, like the animal.

Examples

• Noun:

  • The brown hare sprinted across the open field.
  • For dinner, they served a stew made with hare.

• Verb:

  • When he heard the noise, he hared off down the street.

Advanced Usage

• "To run with the hare and hunt with the hounds": To try to support or be friendly with two opposing sides at the same time.

  • In this dispute, you can't run with the hare and hunt with the hounds; you must choose a side.

• "As mad as a March hare": To be very eccentric, crazy, or excited. This idiom originates from the erratic, boxing behavior of hares during their March breeding season.

  • He was jumping around the room, shouting—he was as mad as a March hare.

Variants and Related Words

• Harebell (n): A slender, delicate plant with blue, bell-shaped flowers.
  • Harebells swayed in the breeze on the hillside.
• Harebrained (adj): Foolish, reckless, or impractical.
  • It was a harebrained scheme that was doomed to fail from the start.

Synonyms

• Noun: Jackrabbit (a type of large hare found in North America).
• Verb: Dash, sprint, bolt, race.

Related Phrasal Verbs

• Hare off: To leave or run away quickly.
  • He didn't say goodbye; he just hared off to catch his train.

Related Idioms

• "First catch your hare then cook him": A proverb advising that you should secure something before you make plans for how to use it. (Often paraphrased as "Don't count your chickens before they hatch").
  • You're planning how to spend the prize money? First catch your hare then cook him—you haven't won it yet!

Học thuật

Noun

1. flesh of any of various rabbits or hares (wild or domesticated) eaten as food
2. 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

Verb

1. run quickly, like a hare
   • He hared down the hill

Từ đồng nghĩa

• rabbit