kookaburra

[kook-uh-bur-uh, -buhr-uh]

noun

1. an Australian kingfisher, Dacelo gigas, having a loud, harsh cry that resembles laughter.

kookaburra

/ ˈkʊkəˌbʌrə /

noun

1. Also called: laughing jackass. a large arboreal Australian kingfisher, Dacelo novaeguineae (or gigas ), with a cackling cry

2. Also called: blue-winged kookaburra. a related smaller bird D. Leachii , of tropical Australia and New Guinea

Word History and Origins

Origin of kookaburra¹

First recorded in 1885–90, kookaburra is from the Wiradjuri word gugubarra (imitative)

Word History and Origins

Origin of kookaburra¹

C19: from a native Australian language

Example Sentences

Australians are well accustomed to swooping birds - there's plovers, noisy miners and even the kookaburra.

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In a country featuring some unique native fauna, the animal emblems of New South Wales are the platypus and kookaburra.

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Mr. Eifert enjoyed the lush backyard with parrots, cockatoos and kookaburras and snorkeling nearby in the Great Barrier Reef, and a few days later they joined Mr. Davies-Griffith’s parents in Sydney.

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The smell of gum trees, the sight of the huge Moreton Bay figs and the sound of laughing kookaburras perched on them are the things that enticed Ms Kramer back to Sydney.

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There was the distant laugh of a single kookaburra.

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