rabbit hole
noun
: a complexly bizarre or difficult state or situation conceived of as a hole into which one falls or descends
I wanted to show this woman descending into the rabbit hole: this loss of self, becoming a servant to her job and to the work.—
Jessica Chastain
Jessica Chastain
especially
: one in which the pursuit of something (such as an answer or solution) leads to other questions, problems, or pursuits
While trying to find the picture again on Google, I fell down the Cosmo rabbit hole, scrolling through a gallery of swimwear, then through "How to Be Sexier-Instantly" and then through all 23 slides of "Sexy Ideas for Long Hair." —Edith Zimmerman
Edith Zimmerman Because it is so early on in this work it is easy to say that we are either at the edge of a remarkable new and useful science or that we are careering down an environmental rabbit hole. —Jack Hitt
Jack Hitt In the season-two premiere of HBO's Westworld, viewers were again tossed down a rabbit hole filled with theories, where one open door leads to many more closed ones. —Josh Wigler and Zoe Haylock
Josh Wigler and Zoe Haylock Synonyms
Examples of rabbit hole in a Sentence
shoreline residents are finding themselves helplessly falling down a rabbit hole in their Sisyphean efforts to halt beach erosion
Recent Examples on the Web
Asking these questions brought me to new possibilities and rabbit holes.
—Ayla Samli, Longreads, 14 May 2024
The scientific concepts on which the show's plot hinges have the potential to send viewers down a rabbit hole of quantum mechanics.
—Megan McCluskey, TIME, 8 May 2024
See all Example Sentences for rabbit hole 
Ayla Samli, Longreads, 14 May 2024
The scientific concepts on which the show's plot hinges have the potential to send viewers down a rabbit hole of quantum mechanics.
—Megan McCluskey, TIME, 8 May 2024
See all Example Sentences for rabbit hole
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'rabbit hole.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near rabbit hole
Cite this Entry
“Rabbit hole.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rabbit%20hole. Accessed 1 Jun. 2024.
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