rabbit warren

English

Etymology

rabbit +‎ warren (“nest or burrow”)

Noun

rabbit warren (plural rabbit warrens)

1. An underground system of interconnected tunnels occupied by rabbits.

   Synonym: rabbit hole (broadly synonymous)

   Hypernyms: latibulum (obsolete), cuniculus

   Meronym: rabbit hole (precisely meronymous)

2. A confusingly labyrinthine environment.
   • 2020 November 18, Mike Brown tells Paul Stephen, “I wasn't going to let the Mayor down”, in Rail, page 45:

     "Everybody knows the publicly visible areas. But in the basement, which is a rabbit warren of ageing kit, we need to do something serious. [...]."

Translations

An underground system of interconnected tunnels occupied by rabbits

• Catalan: lloriguera (ca) f, conillera (ca) f
• Dutch: konijnenpijpen (nl) pl, konijnengangen pl
• French: garenne (fr) f
• German: Gänge des Kaninchenbaus pl
• Welsh: cwningar m

A confusingly labyrinthine environment

• Dutch: doolhof (nl) n
• French: labyrinthe (fr) m
• German: Labyrinth (de) n