Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun plural An indoor television antenna consisting of two usually adjustable rods connected to a base and swiveling apart at a V-shaped angle.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun An
indoor dipole television antenna consisting oftwo usually extensible rods connected to a base to form a V shape. - noun Plural form of
rabbit ear .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun an indoor TV antenna; consists of two extendible rods that form a V
- noun the long ears of a rabbit
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
From the shape of the ears of a rabbit.
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Examples
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treeseed commented on the word rabbit ears
The most common dipole antenna is the "rabbit ears" type used with televisions. While theoretically the dipole elements should be along the same line, "rabbit ears" are adjustable in length and angle.
A dipole antenna, developed by Heinrich Rudolph Hertz around 1886, is an antenna with a center-fed driven element for transmitting or receiving radio frequency energy. These antennas are the simplest practical antennas from a theoretical point of view.
_Wikipedia
In the days before cable television rabbit ears sat on top of the TV to help reception. They usually had a small round or oval shaped plastic base that had two long metal wands that could be adjusted projecting up from the base.
February 3, 2008