hare

noun \ ˈher \

|Updated on: 15 Aug 2018

Definition of hare

plural hare or hares

: any of various swift, gnawing, herbivorous, usually shy lagomorph mammals (family Leporidae and especially genus Lepus) that have long ears, short tails, and powerful long hind legs, are usually solitary or sometimes live in pairs, have the young open-eyed and furred at birth, and live in aboveground nests — compare rabbit 1a

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Recent Examples of hare from the Web

Among them was an ivory netsuke of a trembling hare with amber-inlaid eyes.

— scott reyburn, New York Times, "Looming Ivory Ban Will Create a Mountain of Unsellable Antiques," 12 Apr. 2018
Worse, humans also hunt the animals — deer, badgers and hares — that wild Amur feed on.

— bradley j. fikes, sandiegouniontribune.com, "For the Fourth, bring out the (San Diego Zoo) babies!," 3 July 2018
According to the legend, following a long winter, the goddess of spring, Eastre, turned a frozen bird into a snow hare that could lay colorful eggs.

— taysha murtaugh, Woman's Day, "'Do Bunnies Lay Eggs?' Is an Actual Question People Ask Google," 15 Feb. 2018
Photos: Andrea Morales for The Wall Street Journal(3) Two-engine planes exert more brute force—the hares to the 747’s tortoise.

— scott mccartney, WSJ, "Last Rites for a Boeing 747," 6 June 2018
An Aer Lingus flight bound for Spain returned to its origin city of Dublin on Thursday over fears that the aircraft may have struck two hares, or sucked one into the engine, upon takeoff.

— michael bartiromo, Fox News, "Aer Lingus flight turns back after possibly sucking hare into engine," 11 May 2018
Trinniberg wobbled to the wire in 17th place, a hare turned tortoise down the stretch.

— tim sullivan, The Courier-Journal, "When favorites like Justify win, so does everyone else involved," 7 May 2018
Currently, the hare is only mismatched by a week or two.

— author: livia albeck ripka, brad plumer, Anchorage Daily News, "5 plants and animals utterly confused by climate change," 10 Apr. 2018
Currently, the hare is only mismatched by a week or two.

— New York Times, "5 Plants and Animals Utterly Confused by Climate Change," 4 Apr. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'hare.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of hare

Middle English, from Old English hara; akin to Old High German haso hare, Sanskrit śaśa, Old English hasu gray

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: before 12th century

in the meaning defined above

See Words from the same year

Other Mammals Terms

dormouse, dugong, gibbon, grimalkin, sable, stoat, ungulate, vole

hare

verb

Definition of hare

hared; haring

intransitive verb

: to go swiftly : ¹tear

hare off down the road

See hare defined for English-language learners

Examples of hare in a Sentence

He came haring round the corner at top speed.
she's always haring off to attend to some emergency

Recent Examples of hare from the Web

Karius looked stricken as the game ticked through its final minutes, as Cristiano Ronaldo hared around, desperately searching for the goal that would allow him his moment in the spotlight.

— rory smith, New York Times, "Real Madrid Beats Liverpool in Champions League Final on a Wonder and Two Blunders," 27 May 2018
Sadio Mane intercepted a stray pass on the edge of his area, before playing a through ball between two defenders to set Mohamed Salah haring down the line.

— matias grez, CNN, "Liverpool stun Manchester City to take commanding lead in Champions League tie," 4 Apr. 2018

Did You Know?

No doubt you've heard Aesop's fable about the speedy hare and the plodding tortoise. The hare may have lost that race due to a tactical error (stopping to take a nap before reaching the finish line), but the long-eared mammal's overall reputation for swiftness remains intact. It's no surprise, then, that hare is used as a verb meaning "to move quickly." The noun hare (which refers, in its most specific zoological sense, to a member of the genus Lepus, whose young are usually able to hop a few minutes after birth) is a very old word. It first appeared as hara in a Latin-Old English glossary around the year 700. The verb was in use by the end of the 19th century, and people have been "haring off" and "haring about" ever since.