What does hutch mean?
A hutch is most commonly a small enclosure for rabbits or other small animals, especially one built outdoors with wood or wire. In the modern sense, the word names the shelter rather than the animal, so one might say that a rabbit lives in a hutch. An older sense refers to a chest, box, or cupboard for storing goods or tools. That sense can still appear in descriptions of furniture, workshop storage, or household equipment, although it is less prominent in everyday speech than the animal enclosure. As a verb, hutch means to shelter or confine something in a hutch; this use is uncommon. The word is nevertheless useful because it names a compact, purpose-built shelter in a way that the more general terms pen, cage, and enclosure do not.
A small pen or shelter for rabbits or other small animals. In an older sense, a chest or cupboard for storing goods or tools.
"The farmer placed the orphaned lamb in a clean hutch."
The rabbit or animal-enclosure sense is now the most common. The storage-chest sense is established but comparatively dated.
To shelter or confine something, especially an animal, in a hutch.
"The farmer hutched the injured duck until it could be moved to a proper pen."
This verb is rare in modern usage.
The standard plural of the noun.
"They built two hutches for the rabbits."
The word's main meaning has migrated from the storeroom to the animal pen: today's hutch is best known as a rabbit's shelter.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does hutch come from?
The word entered Middle English from Old French huche, meaning a chest, box, or cupboard, initially with the sense of storing goods in such a receptacle. By the early modern period, hutch was also used for a pen or coop, especially one for rabbits. It is related to huge, which came through Old French huchet, a diminutive associated with huche.
Related word forms
How hutch is actually used
The animal-enclosure sense is dominant in contemporary use. The older sense for a storage chest or cupboard is still recognized but less common, while the verb is rare.
Easily confused with hutch
A hutch is an enclosure for small animals, whereas a hatch is an opening or door through which something passes.