A hare is the bigger, longer-legged cousin of the rabbit and lives above ground rather than in a burrow. If it is fast, long-eared and never seems to have a home to duck into, it is probably a hare, not a rabbit.
The core difference
Hares are larger, longer-legged relatives of rabbits that live in the open instead of digging burrows.
- Hare — a fast-running, long-eared mammal, larger than a rabbit and without burrows: Hares don't dig burrows the way rabbits do.
- Rabbit — a smaller, long-eared mammal known for fast breeding and hopping, usually living in a burrow or hutch: They kept two pet rabbits in a hutch out back.
How to tell them apart
Size and legs are the quickest clues: a hare is noticeably bigger than a rabbit and has longer ears and legs built for sustained sprinting across open ground. A rabbit is smaller and rounder, and keeps a burrow to retreat to, which is exactly what a hare does not do.
The word rabbit has picked up other uses worth knowing, such as the rabbit who sets the pace in a race, and the verb sense of chatting on without stopping, as in rabbiting on. Hare also works as a verb, meaning to move very quickly, as in someone who hared off down the street.
