Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com

nulla-nulla

American  
[nuhl-uh-nuhl-uh] / ˈnʌl əˈnʌl ə /

noun

Australian.
  1. an Aboriginal club or cudgel for use in hunting and war.


nulla-nulla British  
/ ˌnʌləˈnʌlə /

noun

  1. a wooden club used by native Australians

"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 nulla-nulla

First recorded in 1830–40, nulla-nulla is from the Dharuk word ŋa-la-ŋa-la

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.

See Examples For:

Hunting spears were slung from a rafter and Gulpilil kept a wooden Indigenous fighting club known as a nulla-nulla for self-protection.

From Washington Post Nov. 29, 2021

Men armed with spears surround and exterminate a shoal detected in shallow water; and the boomerang and the nulla-nulla as well as the spear form the weapons of the solitary fisherman.

From Tropic Days by E. J. (Edmund James) Banfield

But as they came nearer they saw him hurl either his boomerang or nulla-nulla, and a small kangaroo fell over, kicking, on its side.

From The Dingo Boys The Squatters of Wallaby Range by W. S. (Walter S.) Stacey

Shanter started up into a sitting position and tried to drag out his nulla-nulla, but his eyes closed again, and he fell back heavily.

From The Dingo Boys The Squatters of Wallaby Range by W. S. (Walter S.) Stacey

He then threw a club, or nulla-nulla, to the foot of the tree, and ascended to the highest branch.

From Three Expeditions into the Interior of Eastern Australia, Volume 1 by Thomas Mitchell

Vocabulary.com logo
by dictionary.com

Join 12,000,000 vocabulary learners

Start learning new words today on VocabTrainer.
You'll remember them forever.

Start training