an imaginary marker of the extent of civilization (esp in the phrase beyond the black stump )
a long way off
First recorded in 1925–30
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Half-an-hour before sundown we rode up to the Black Stump.
From Robbery under Arms; a story of life and adventure in the bush and in the Australian goldfields by Boldrewood, Rolf
We mounted then, and it looked as if we were all matched for a race to the Black Stump.
From Robbery under Arms; a story of life and adventure in the bush and in the Australian goldfields by Boldrewood, Rolf
Teutonic face, ribald yet alert, lifting her pointed ears sharply, pricking up the small black stump which, instead of a tail, adorned the termination of her vertebrae.
From Time Magazine Archive
Sandy blight, n.: an inflammation of the tear ducts caused by living beyond the black stump.
From Time Magazine Archive
In Thorn Birds the characters bellyache about the flies and heat all the time and talk about "being stuck out here in this hellish place" beyond the black stump.
From Time Magazine Archive
The object proved to be nothing more intimidating than a black stump.
From The Trail of Conflict by Loring, Emilie Baker
Here and there he could see the dim outline of a black stump, its little snowcap perched upon its rim.
From Buffalo Roost by Cheley, F. H.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
