kangaroo

[ kang-guh-roo ]

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.

kangaroo

/ ˌkæŋɡəˈruː /

noun

1. See tree kangaroo, rat kangaroo
   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

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

Derived Forms

• ˌkangaˈroo-ˌlike, adjective

Other Words From

• kanga·roolike adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of kangaroo¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of kangaroo¹

C18: probably from a native Australian language

Example Sentences

One such cluster of Australian megafauna extinctions, including the demise of Diprotodon and the giant kangaroo Procoptodon goliah, occurred around 42,000 years ago.

From Science News

Say you want to teach an AI to identify dogs, cats, and kangaroos.

From Singularity Hub 

Go to the Australian grasslands and there’ll be kangaroos but no cats or dogs.

From Singularity Hub 

Tell an AI a kangaroo is some fraction cat and some fraction dog—both of which it’s seen and knows well—and it’ll be able to identify a kangaroo without ever having seen one.

From Singularity Hub 

The kangaroo pocket keeps my hands warm on neighborhood walks, and the stretchy polyester outer makes it perfect around camp or in a sleeping bag if I need extra warmth at night.

From Outside Online

And this is not the first time that the kangaroo courts of rural India have made such appalling judgments.

From The Daily Beast

Capital Cities, "Kangaroo Court" This song has been around for a few weeks, but this video takes it to a whole new level.

From The Daily Beast

It works and he gets the attention of a pretty poodle, but things quickly go awry, leading them all to a literal kangaroo court.

From The Daily Beast

Inside one, a giant kangaroo sculpture holds a fireplace in its belly.

From The Daily Beast

I felt as if I were in a literary version of kangaroo court.

From The Daily Beast

The Kangaroo can hop and hop and hop; Somehow he never seems to want to stop.

From Project Gutenberg

Nqa is very much surprised, because he has never seen a Kangaroo dance like that before.

From Project Gutenberg

You can see the marks of Kangaroo's big new feet running ever so far back over the bare hills.

From Project Gutenberg

A small kangaroo was seen by Mr. Cunningham feeding upon the grass, but fled the moment that it saw him approaching.

From Project Gutenberg

The traces of a small kangaroo were everywhere abundant but the animals were not seen.

From Project Gutenberg