rabbit hole
noun
Forms rabbit holes rabbit-hole rabbithole
- noun (figurative, usually with an article) A bizarre world, where everyday rules do not apply.
- noun (figurative, usually with an article) A way into such a world. “These mushrooms will take you down the rabbit hole, man.”
- noun (figuratively, by extension) A time-consuming tangent or detour, often one from which it is difficult to extricate oneself. “I'm also a fan of a really obscure book series, but that's a rabbit hole that we won't get into.”
- noun (figurative, gaming) The initial clue that leads to an alternate reality game.
- noun Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see rabbit, hole. The entrance to a rabbit warren or burrow; the whole warren or burrow.
Synonyms
looking-glass wild-goose chase rabbit trail[regiolect]]ic> trailhead rabbit burrow
Etymology
From rabbit + hole. Extended senses reference Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, where Alice travels down a rabbit hole into a bizarre world.
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 — from the Wiktionary entry “rabbit hole”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details