bunny

== English == === Pronunciation === (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA(key): /ˈbʌni/ Rhymes: -ʌni Hyphenation: bun‧ny === Etymology 1 === From bun (“rabbit”) +‎ -y (diminutive suffix). Probably from Scottish Gaelic bun (“bottom, butt, stump, stub”), from Old Irish bun (“the thick end of anything, base, butt, foot”), from Proto-Celtic *bonus, though its origin is uncertain. Compare also English bum. Together with rabbit, bunny has largely displaced its former rhyme cony (see cony for more). ==== Alternative forms ==== bnuuy (deliberate misspelling) ==== Noun ==== bunny (plural bunnies) (informal or childish) A rabbit, especially a juvenile one. A bunny girl: a nightclub waitress who wears a costume having rabbit ears and tail. (sports) In basketball, an easy shot (i.e., one right next to the bucket) that is missed. (slang, euphemistic) A menstrual pad. (cricket) Synonym of rabbit (“batsman frequently dismissed by the same bowler”). ===== Derived terms ===== ===== Translations ===== ==== Adjective ==== bunny (comparative bunnier, superlative bunniest) (skiing) Easy or unchallenging. ===== Synonyms ===== (easy or unchallenging): nursery === Etymology 2 === From Middle English bony, boni (“swelling, tumor”), from Old French bugne, buigne (“swelling, lump”), from Old Frankish *bungjo (“swelling, bump”), from Proto-Germanic *bungô, *bunkô (“lump, clump, heap, crowd”). More at bunion, bunch. ==== Alternative forms ==== bunney, bonie ==== Noun ==== bunny (plural bunnies) (UK dialectal) A swelling from a blow; a bump. (mining) A sudden enlargement or mass of ore, as opposed to a vein or lode. === Etymology 3 === From Middle English bune (“hollow stalk or stem, drinking straw”), from Old English bune (“cup, beaker, drinking vessel; reed, cane”), of unknown origin. Related to English bun, boon (“the stalk of flax or hemp less the fibre”), Scots bune, boon, been, see bun, boon. Compare also bunweed. ==== Noun ==== bunny (plural bunnies) (UK dialectal) A culvert or short covered drain connecting two ditches. (UK dialectal) A chine or gully formed by water running over the edge of a cliff; a wooded glen or small ravine opening through the cliff line to the sea. (UK dialectal) Any small drain or culvert. (UK dialectal) A brick arch or wooden bridge, covered with earth across a drawn or carriage in a water-meadow, just wide enough to allow a hay-wagon to pass over. (UK dialectal) A small pool of water. === Etymology 4 === ==== Noun ==== bunny (plural bunnies) (South Africa) Bunny chow; a snack of bread filled with curry. === Etymology 5 === From bun (“small bread roll”) +‎ -y. ==== Adjective ==== bunny (comparative more bunny or bunnier, superlative most bunny or bunniest) (rare, humorous) Resembling a bun (small bread roll). [since the 1960s, but always rare] ===== Synonyms ===== (resembling a bun): bunlike