Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition


kangaroo

kan′ga-roo′

,
Noun.
[Said to be the native name.]
(Zool.)
Any one of numerous species of jumping marsupials of the family
Macropodidæ
. They inhabit
Australia
, New Guinea, and adjacent islands, They have long and strong hind legs and a large tail, while the fore legs are comparatively short and feeble. The giant kangaroo (
Macropus major
) is the largest species, sometimes becoming twelve or fourteen feet in total length. The tree kangaroos, belonging to the genus
Dendrolagus
, live in trees; the rock kangaroos, of the genus
Petrogale
, inhabit rocky situations; and the brush kangaroos, of the genus
Halmaturus
, inhabit wooded districts. See
Wallaby
.
Kangaroo apple
(Bot.)
,
the edible fruit of the Tasmanian plant
Solanum aviculare
.
Kangaroo grass
(Bot.)
,
a perennial Australian forage grass (
Anthistiria australis
).
Kangaroo hare
(Zool.)
,
the jerboa kangaroo. See under
Jerboa
.
Kangaroo mouse
.
(Zool.)
See
Jumping mouse
, under
Jumping
.

Definition 2024


kangaroo

kangaroo

English

A kangaroo with a joey.

Noun

kangaroo (plural kangaroos)

  1. A member of the Macropodidae family of large marsupials with strong hind legs for hopping, native to Australia. [from 18th c.]
    • 1770, James Cook, Journal, 4 August 1770 :
      Besides the Animals which I have before mentioned, called by the Natives Kangooroo, or Kanguru […].
    • 1814, Matthew Flinders, A Voyage to Terra Australis:
      In the woods are the kanguroo, the emu or cassowary, paroquets, and a variety of small birds […].
  2. (Canada, attributive) A hooded jacket with a front pocket, usually of fleece material, a kangaroo jacket.

Synonyms

Derived terms

Translations

See also

Verb

kangaroo (third-person singular simple present kangaroos, present participle kangarooing, simple past and past participle kangarooed)

  1. To practice kangaroo care on an infant; to hold a premature infant against the skin.
  2. To hunt kangaroo.
  3. To drive a motor car very jerkily

References

  • R. M. W. Dixon, Australian Aboriginal Words, Oxford University Press, 1990, ISBN 0-19-553099-3
  • “kangaroo” in the Canadian Oxford Dictionary, Second Edition, Oxford University Press, 2004.

Manx

Etymology

Borrowing from English kangaroo.

Noun

kangaroo m (genitive singular kangaroo, plural kangarooghyn)

  1. kangaroo

Mutation

Manx mutation
Radical Lenition Eclipsis
kangaroo changaroo gangaroo
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every
possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.