Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com
Showing results for galah. Search instead for galahs.

galah

American  
[guh-lah] / gəˈlɑ /

noun

  1. an Australian cockatoo, Kakatoe roseicapilla, having rose-colored underparts.

  2. Australian. a fool.


galah British  
/ ɡəˈlɑː /

noun

  1. an Australian cockatoo, Kakatoe roseicapilla, having grey wings, back, and crest and a pink body

  2. slang a fool or simpleton

"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

Etymology

Origin of galah

First recorded in 1885–90; from Yuwaalaraay (an Australian Aboriginal language spoken near Lightning Ridge, northern New South Wales) gilā

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The aging 8-meter statue, of a local species of cockatoo called the galah, marks a roughly midway point between the eastern and western coasts of Australia.

From New York Times • Mar. 7, 2018

Pink, for example on a galah cockatoo, can be due to weak absorption of all colors except red.

From Textbooks • Aug. 12, 2015

Raw prawn, to come the, v.: to delude or hoodwink a drongo or galah.

From Time Magazine Archive

Compare also gali, to dig; tenggalam, to sink; tugal, to sow rice by putting seeds into holes made with a sharp stick; galah, a pole; gala-gala, pitch.

From A Manual of the Malay language With an Introductory Sketch of the Sanskrit Element in Malay by Maxwell, William Edward, Sir

They slaughtered a camel, and were fortunate to shoot a few pigeons and galah parrots, the fresh meat restoring a little of their strength.

From The Explorers of Australia and their Life-work by Favenc, Ernest

Vocabulary.com logo
by dictionary.com

Look it up. Learn it forever.

Remember "galah" for good with VocabTrainer. Expand your vocabulary effortlessly with personalized learning tools that adapt to your goals.

Take me to Vocabulary.com