leveret

noun

leveret

noun

/ˈlɛvəɹɪt/ · /ˈlɛvɹɪt/

Etymology From Middle English leveret(te), from Old French leveret, diminutive of lievre (“hare”), from Latin leporem, of obscure origin.

1

A young hare less than one year old.

  • […] Shall I die like a leveret, Without any resistance?—Help, help, help! I am slain!1623, John Webster, The Duchess of Malfi, act V, scene 5:
  • Fair Hand that can on Virgin-paper write, Yet from the stain of Ink preserve it white, Whose travel o’er that Silver Field does show, Like track of Leveretts in morning Snow;1686, Edmund Waller, “Of a Tree cut in Paper”, in Poems, &c. written upon several occasions, and to several persons by Edmond Waller, London: H. Herringman:
2 more examples
  • As when two skilful hounds the leveret wind; Or chase through woods obscure the trembling hind; Now lost, now seen, they intercept his way, And from the herd still turn the flying prey: So fast, and with such fears, the Trojan flew; So close, so constant, the bold Greeks pursue.1720, Alexander Pope, transl., The Iliad of Homer, Book 10:
  • They heard Marvel squeal like a caught leveret, and forthwith they were clambering over the bar to his rescue.1897, H[erbert] G[eorge] Wells, “chapter 16”, in The Invisible Man: A Grotesque Romance, New York, N.Y.; London: Harper & Brothers Publishers, →OCLC:
Related terms
rabbitling

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.