rabbit

A situation comprised of both crude or unpleasant things as well as those which are pleasing or beneficial, usually with the former in greater proportion to the latter. Used especially in reference to economics or business. The prime minister's plan for the economic recovery is little more than horse and rabbit stew, with a few token stimulus incentives greatly outweighed by draconian austerity measures.

To enter into a situation or begin a process or journey that is particularly strange, problematic, difficult, complex, or chaotic, especially one that becomes increasingly so as it develops or unfolds. (An allusion to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll.) Owning your own business is a huge responsibility that not everyone is prepared for. Are you sure you're ready to go down the rabbit hole? I've stayed away from drugs and alcohol since coming to college. I have an addictive personality, so I decided to just avoid going down that rabbit hole altogether. Overhauling the current tax legislation is a rabbit hole I don't think this administration should go down at this point.

A situation, journey, or process that is particularly strange, problematic, difficult, complex, or chaotic, especially one that becomes increasingly so as it develops or unfolds. An allusion to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, it is used especially in the phrase "(go) down the rabbit hole." Overhauling the current tax legislation is a rabbit hole I don't think this administration should go down at this point. I've stayed away from drugs and alcohol since coming to college. I have an addictive personality, so I decided to just avoid that rabbit hole altogether.

The woman to whom we are referring is pregnant; the pregnancy test was positive. (From an early pregnancy test developed in 1931 in which the urine of a woman thought to be pregnant was injected into a female rabbit; if the woman was pregnant, the rabbit's ovaries would react. A common misconception at the time was that the rabbit would die if the woman was pregnant, hence the expression.) I saw Carol shopping for maternity clothes in the mall the other day. I guess the rabbit died! Honey, the rabbit died! It looks like we're going to have a baby!

To be visibly startled and frozen in fear. I was like a deer caught in the headlights when my mom asked about that hideous sweater she gave me. When the security alarm started blaring, the burglar was like a deer caught in the headlights.

to do something surprising You didn't know how the story would end and then the author pulled a rabbit out of her hat, and it all made sense.

if people breed like rabbits, they produce too many babies very quickly It's like I was saying to Derek, they all intermarry and they breed like rabbits.

to be so frightened or surprised that you cannot move or think Each time they asked him a question he was like a deer caught in the headlights.

to surprise everyone by suddenly doing something that shows a lot of skill, often in order to solve a problem He's one of those players who, just when you think the game's over, can pull a rabbit out of the hat.

Produce suddenly and surprisingly, as if by magic. For example, We can't just pull the answers out of a hat. This expression alludes to the magician's trick of pulling some unexpected object out of a hat. That object is often a rabbit, and the expression pull a rabbit out of a hat is often used to mean "get magical results," as in Much as I would like to be able to pull a rabbit out of a hat, I doubt if I can find further funding for this project .