bunny rabbit
- noun
- /ˈbʌni ˈræbɪt/
- Informal
- They had a bunny rabbit.
- a little bunny rabbit
Examples
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My friend has a cute bunny rabbit that loves to play.
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Yes, he has a little bunny rabbit.
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Not for a cute little bunny rabbit!
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You know, once upon a time... I had a little bunny rabbit.
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This is where I sometimes see bunny rabbits.
Blog text (14) -
I used to have a little bunny rabbit named Teddy; it looked really cute nibbling on Angela's ear.
Fiction book (1995) -
Where's your bunny rabbit?
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I saw a little bunny rabbit hopping across the garden.
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The children watched as the little bunny rabbit nibbled on some grass.
Synonyms
A small rabbit, often a young one
A small furry animal with long ears that lives in holes and hops
A rabbit word used in some old country dialects
How Affectionate
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly and transparently built from the constituents: 'bunny' is already a diminutive/affectionate form of 'rabbit', so 'bunny rabbit' clearly refers to a (usually young or cute) rabbit. This tautological/emphatic pattern is straightforward and cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows both words will understand the MWE.
Etymology
Bunny rabbit comes from the children's word bunny, a sweet nickname for small, soft rabbits. So bunny rabbit is a friendly, 'affectionate' way to talk about a rabbit, often a 'young' one.