nounplural noun coneys

• 1British Heraldry
  A rabbit.

  ‘The humble rabbit was once commonly known as cony, coney (yes, as in Island Baby) or cunny.’

  More example sentences

  • ‘Only a few weeks ago I had been in Puerto Rico and eaten a most amazing piece of deep fried, nearly greaseless coney so, I was eager to make some rabbit of my own.’
  • ‘Or the coney killer, coney being the country name for rabbits.’
  • ‘A statute of 1337 in England restricted the wearing of furs to those with an income of £100 p.a., while a later scale confined ermine to the richest and restricted the poor to the furs of humble creatures, such as the cat, coney, or fox.’
  • ‘There's only one good way to cook a brace of coneys.’
  • ‘They had cackled and cheered when Peter had finally killed the little coney with a sharp blow to the spine that had snapped it in two with the sound of a popgun.’
  • ‘In the past, the animal was a rabbit up until the age of a year, and subsequently referred to as a coney.’

  1. 1.1mass noun Rabbit fur.
     ‘But manufacturers still use up to two coney rabbit pelts to make each of the new-style hats.’
     More example sentences

     • ‘Because solid colour cat fur is similar to rabbit fur, it is easily passed off as coney in garments and trim and like coney it can be dyed.’
     • ‘This coat is a black dyed coney fur.’
  2. 1.2North American A pika.
     ‘The term cony (coney) as used in the Bible refers to the hyrax, not to the pika (‘true’ cony).’
     More example sentences

     • ‘Also called the ‘rock rabbit,’ ‘coney,’ and ‘little chief hare,’ the pika's name is derived from the Siberian word for this animal, puka.’
     • ‘Also known by the name, coney and rock rabbit, the pika is found across most mountainous regions of western North America.’
  3. 1.3(in biblical use) a hyrax.
     ‘The so-called ‘dawn horse’, or Eohippus, was most likely not related to horses at all, but was very like a modern-day hyrax - that is, a rock badger or coney.’
     More example sentences

     • ‘Exceptions to this include the hair of the coney, Hyrax syriacus.’
     • ‘The habits of the coney (hyrax – N.S.) are very accurately. portrayed in the Psalms and in Proverbs.’
• 2A small grouper (fish) found on the coasts of the tropical western Atlantic, with variable coloration.

  Epinephelus fulvus, family Serranidae

  ‘Schools of grunts, coneys and tangs marked the entrance to the grotto, an ancient lava flow that cooled to a black tortured cavity.’

  More example sentences

  • ‘Fen fisherfolk knew them as pout eel, while around the Theford area, they were known as coney fish, as they were believed to spend much of their time hiding in holes in the bank.’
  • ‘A species of Ling is called sometimes the burbot, but it lives in fresh water; and this is also called the coney fish, and supposed to be allusive in the following arms.’