kangaroo

[ kang-guh-roo ]
See synonyms for: kangarookangaroos on Thesaurus.com

noun,plural kan·ga·roos, (especially collectively) kan·ga·roo.
  1. any herbivorous marsupial of the family Macropodidae, of Australia and adjacent islands, having a small head, short forelimbs, powerful hind legs used for leaping, and a long, thick tail: several species are threatened or endangered.

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Origin of kangaroo

1
First recorded in 1760–70; from Guugu Yimidhirr (an Australian Aboriginal language spoken around Cooktown, northern Queensland) gaŋ-urru, a large black or gray species of kangaroo

Other words from kangaroo

  • kan·ga·roo·like, adjective

Words Nearby kangaroo

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How to use kangaroo in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for kangaroo

kangaroo

/ (ˌkæŋɡəˈruː) /


nounplural -roos
  1. any large herbivorous marsupial of the genus Macropus and related genera, of Australia and New Guinea, having large powerful hind legs, used for leaping, and a long thick tail: family Macropodidae: See also rat kangaroo, tree kangaroo

  2. (usually plural) stock exchange an Australian share, esp in mining, land, or a tobacco company

verb-roos, -rooing or -rooed
  1. informal (of a car) to move forward or to cause (a car) to move forward with short sudden jerks, as a result of improper use of the clutch

Origin of kangaroo

1
C18: probably from a native Australian language

Derived forms of kangaroo

  • kangaroo-like, adjective

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012