rabbit hole

American

[rab-it hohl] / ˈræb ɪt ˌhoʊl /

noun

a tunnel made in the ground by a rabbit; a rabbit burrow.
Informal. a strange, disorienting, or frustrating situation or experience, typically one that is difficult to navigate: I have been down the rabbit hole of building a new home.

I had a history of depression and occasionally fell down dark, deep rabbit holes from which only medication and therapy could pull me out.
I have been down the rabbit hole of building a new home.
Informal. a time-consuming distraction of one's attention as happens when clicking through online links, following social media posts, or pursuing information.

After diving down an internet rabbit hole and poring over treatments, risks, and so on, she felt even more panicked.

Etymology

Origin of rabbit hole

First recorded in 1660–70; rabbit hole def. 2 was first recorded in 1935–40, from Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

A student from Hurlford, she then went down a rabbit hole looking at the amount of water that would be needed for coolant, the process which stops the computer chips there from overheating.

From BBC

They looked just like rabbit holes, but supposedly gnome holes all led to a large underground cavern where they kept hoards of food.

From Literature

As Poer puts it, they enjoy “going down a rabbit hole” when they find something they like.

From Los Angeles Times

I had gone down a rabbit hole of websites and niche online forums.

From The Wall Street Journal

But instead of a rabbit hole, he discovered only a septic tank.

From Literature

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023