jumbuck

American

[juhm-buhk] / ˈdʒʌm bʌk /

noun

Australian.

a sheep.

jumbuck British

/ ˈdʒʌmˌbʌk /

noun

archaic an informal word for sheep

"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 jumbuck

First recorded in 1815–25; perhaps ultimately from Kamilaroi dimba (meaning unknown), altered by association with buck ¹; borrowed into Australian Pidgin English and thence into other Aboriginal languages

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.

Down came a jumbuck to drink at the billabong, Up jumped the swagman and grabbed him with glee.

From Time Magazine Archive

And he sang as he stowed that jumbuck in his tucker bag: "You'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me."

From Time Magazine Archive

Where's that jolly jumbuck you've got in your tuckerbag?

From Time Magazine Archive

Down came a jumbuck to drink at the water-hole, Up jumped the swagman and grabbed him in glee; And he sang as he put him away in his tucker-bag, "You'll come a-waltzing Matilda with me!"

From Project Gutenberg

Whose is the jumbuck you've got in the tucker-bag?

From Project Gutenberg

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023