English

Alternative forms

• Br'er Rabbit

Proper noun

Brer Rabbit

1. The hero of the Uncle Remus stories.
   • 2000, Bill Mann, "Microsoft Ain't AT&T", The Motley Fool, May 9, 2000

     who believe that Microsoft actually wants to be broken up (the Brer Rabbit solution),

2. Any specific rabbit; used to personify a rabbit in a story
   • 2005, Alan Hamilton, "How Chester the labrador was caught on hop by a wily bunny", The Times, September 27, 2005

     BRER RABBIT came pacing down the road, lippity-clippity, clippity-lippity, just as sassy as a jaybird. And then he saw Chester the dog, who might just as well have been Brer Fox.

3. Any trickster, or unusually quick and clever, figure.
   • 1892, Henry Lucy, A Diary of the Salisbury Parliament, 1886-1892, page 34:

     Mr. Smith, the Brer Rabbit of House of Commons Leaders, "lay low and said nuffin."

   • 1914, William Edgar Sackett, Modern Battles of Politics, volume 2, page 308:

     He was the "Br'er Rabbit" of politics — he lay low so that the hunters of the other side could not see him to point their guns at him.

   • 2006, Mike Gaddis, Zip Zap, ISBN 0811701964, page 180:

     It was the combination of a super-smooth shooting dog of radiant style and talent, and a Br'er Rabbit handler that stayed one bounce ahead of the fox.

Translations

See also

• Wikipedia article on Br’er Rabbit