buy the rabbit

verb

To get the worst of a bargain.

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Meanings

verbbuy the rabbit (third-person singular simple present buys the rabbit, present participle buying the rabbit, simple past and past participle bought the rabbit)

present singular third person buys the rabbit · participle present buying the rabbit · participle past bought the rabbit · past bought the rabbit

  1. UKarchaicslangTo get the worst of a bargain.

    This is ruffian-like, by superiority of numbers to endeavor to make honest people buy the rabbit.

    1895, Horace White, Money and Banking, page 253

Origin

According to Hotten: from an old story about a man selling a cat to a foreigner as a rabbit.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

buy the rabbit. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/buy%20the%20rabbit

MLA

“buy the rabbit.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/buy%20the%20rabbit. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “buy the rabbit,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/buy%20the%20rabbit.

Source: buy the rabbit on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.