Hare

[hair] /hɛər/

noun, plural hares (especially collectively) hare.
1.
any rodentlike mammal of the genus Lepus, of the family Leporidae, having long ears, a divided upper lip, and long hind limbs adapted for leaping.
2.
any of the larger species of this genus, as distinguished from certain of the smaller ones known as rabbits.
3.
any of various similar animals of the same family.
4.
(initial capital letter) Astronomy. the constellation Lepus.
5.
the player pursued in the game of .
verb (used without object), hared, haring.
6.
Chiefly British. to run fast.
/hɛə/
noun (pl) hares, hare
1.
any solitary leporid mammal of the genus Lepus, such as L. europaeus (European hare). Hares are larger than rabbits, having longer ears and legs, and live in shallow nests (forms) related adjective leporine
2.
(Irish, informal) make a hare of someone, to defeat someone completely
3.
run with the hare and hunt with the hounds, to be on good terms with both sides
verb
4.
(intransitive; often foll by off, after, etc) (Brit, informal) to go or run fast or wildly
/hɛə/
noun
1.
Sir David. born 1947, British dramatist and theatre director: his plays include Plenty (1978), Pravda (with Howard Brenton, 1985), The Secret Rapture (1989), Racing Demon (1990), The Permanent Way (2003), and Stuff Happens (2004)
2.
William. 19th century, Irish murderer and bodysnatcher: associate of William Burke
/hɛə/
noun
1.
a member of a Dene Native Canadian people of northern Canada
n.

Old English hara “hare,” from West Germanic *hasan- (cf. Old Frisian hasa, Middle Dutch haese, Dutch haas, Old High German haso, German Hase), possibly with a sense of “gray” (cf. Old English hasu, Old High German hasan “gray”), from PIE *kas- “gray” (cf. Latin canus “white, gray, gray-haired”). Perhaps cognate with Sanskrit sasah, Afghan soe, Welsh ceinach “hare.” Rabbits burrow in the ground; hares do not. Hare-lip is from 1560s.

þou hast a crokyd tunge heldyng wyth hownd and wyth hare. [“Jacob’s Well,” c.1440]

v.

“to harry, harass,” 1520s; meaning “to frighten” is 1650s; of uncertain origin; connections have been suggested to harry (v.) and to hare (n.). Related: Hared; haring.

(Heb. ‘arnebeth) was prohibited as food according to the Mosaic law (Lev. 11:6; Deut. 14:7), “because he cheweth the cud, but divideth not the hoof.” The habit of this animal is to grind its teeth and move its jaw as if it actually chewed the cud. But, like the cony (q.v.), it is not a ruminant with four stomachs, but a rodent like the squirrel, rat, etc. Moses speaks of it according to appearance. It is interdicted because, though apparently chewing the cud, it did not divide the hoof. There are two species in Syria, (1) the Lepus Syriacus or Syrian hare, which is like the English hare; and (2) the Lepus Sinaiticus, or hare of the desert. No rabbits are found in Syria.

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