wallaby
noun
any of various small and medium-sized kangaroos of the genera Macropus, Thylogale, Petrogale, etc., some of which are no larger than rabbits: several species are endangered.
wallaby
American
[wol-uh-bee]
/ ˈwɒl ə bi /
noun
-
wallabies,
plural
-
wallaby
plural
wallaby
1
British
/ ˈwɒləbɪ /
noun
-
any of various herbivorous marsupials of the genera Lagorchestes ( hare wallabies ), Petrogale ( rock wallabies ), Protemnodon, etc, of Australia and New Guinea, similar to but smaller than kangaroos: family Macropodidae
-
slang (of a person) wandering about looking for work
Wallaby
2
British
/ ˈwɒləbɪ /
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of wallaby
First recorded in 1790–1800, wallaby is from the Dharuk word wa-la-ba
Compare meaning
How does wallaby compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
A wallaby is a pint-sized relative of a kangaroo. Like their larger cousins, wallabies are indigenous to Australia and New Guinea. Small to medium-sized, wallabies are a type of marsupial that carries its newborn babies in pouches. The tiniest species of wallaby is only 18 inches long. They have very powerful rear legs that allow them to jump high, bound along at top speed, and kick predators hard when necessary. The name wallaby is from the Aboriginal Australian Dharug waliba; in English, wallabies were once commonly referred to as as "brush-kangaroos."
Vocabulary lists containing wallaby
Australia and New Zealand - Introductory
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Australia and New Zealand - Middle School and High School
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National Spelling Bee '14: Prelims Round 3
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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:
A white wallaby has been rescued and reunited with its owner after being found on the side of a road in Kent.
From BBC ● Sep. 13, 2025
It was most likely a mid-speed hopper, something like a swamp wallaby.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 15, 2024
Researchers in Australia reintroduced “ecosystem engineers” including species of rat and wallaby, to areas from which they had disappeared.
From Scientific American ● Sep. 9, 2023
It is legal to own a wallaby in Oklahoma, but the animal should be registered with the city, Daniels said.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 7, 2023
For the time he had forgotten the fifteen-foot leap of the rock wallaby that he had witnessed on the day after his escape from the circus.
From Finn The Wolfhound by Robert Hugh Buxton
They meet again on Sunday and six-Test Wallaby Toole said they were brimming with confidence after opening their season with a 56-24 thrashing of Western Force in Perth a week ago.
From Barron's ● Feb. 21, 2026
A Wallaby performance, an electrified home support, a Lions team in a giant hole and a finale that will never be forgotten.
From BBC ● Aug. 2, 2025
The series has been won, but this was a dreadful finale by the Lions and a rousing sign that Wallaby rugby might - just might - be heading for much brighter days.
From BBC ● Aug. 2, 2025
"It's going to be really awesome for me," says Australia forward Rob Valetini, a Melbourne boy who is charged with leading the Wallaby backlash after the Lions' win in Brisbane.
From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2025
But in vain did the odour of the Wallaby soup ascend to his nostrils; in vain was the roast fowl spread before him.
From By Berwen Banks by Allen Raine
The listing price for Inchconnachan, which has a colony of wild wallabies, is $4 million, or $13.5 million with a completed home.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 29, 2026
Abroad, studies have shown wildlife crossings save money and lives, both human and animal, including saving jaguars in Mexico and wallabies and bandicoots in Australia.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 31, 2024
The study compared using B. pinnata solution and the real plant and found both were equally successful at protecting eucalyptseedlings from being eaten by wallabies.
From Science Daily ● Feb. 2, 2024
On one Australian island, the light was so disruptive that wallabies, whose gestation is normally triggered by the summer solstice, ended up giving birth so much later in the season that food had run out.
From New York Times ● Feb. 15, 2023
Boa constrictors, Komodo dragons, crocodiles, piranhas, ostriches, wolves, lynx, wallabies, manatees, porcupines, orangutans, wild boar—that’s the sort of rainfall you could expect on your umbrella.
From "Life of Pi" by Yann Martel
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.
